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m  MEMOmAJA 
Henry  Byron  Phillips 


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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/chinesethoughtexOOcarurich 


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r  •:  ••!  .•••••  •    .   .    •• 


?LT 


CHINESE  THQtiGiT 


AN 


EXPOSITION  OF  THE  MAIN  CHARACTER 

ISTIC  FEATURES  OF  THE  CHINESE 

WORLD-CONCEPTION 


DR.   PAUL  CARUS 


BEING    A    CONTINUATION    OF    THE    AUTHOR'S    ESSAY 


^V 


ILLUSTRATEP 


CHICAGO 

THE  OPEN  COURT  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

LONDON  AGENTS 
KEGAN  PAUL,  TRENCH,  TRUBNER  &  CO. ,  LTD. 

1907 


•  •         •     •  • 

•  •       •  ••• 

••••••        • 


^ 


^1^ 


Copyright  by 

The  Open  Court  Publishing  Co. 

1907. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Chinese  Script i 

The  Communication  of  Thought,  2. — Stock  Phrases  and  Staple 
Thoughts,  12. 

Chinese  Occultism 25 

The  Yih  System,  25. — The  Tablet  of  Destiny,  33. — Divination,  34.— 
Urim  and  Thummim,  36. — P'an-Ku,  40. — The  Five  Elements,  41. — 
Systems   of   Enumeration,   50. — Feng-Shui,    55. — Lo-Pan,   58. — The 
Mariner's  Compass  a  Chinese  Invention,  64. — The  Personification 
of  Stars,  66. — Prehistoric  Connections,  81. 

Zodiacs  of  Different  Nations 84 

Primitive  Interrelation  of  Mankind,  84.  —  Independent  Parallels, 
84-86.  —  Prehistoric  Connections,  86-88.  —  Astrology  and  Kepler, 
88-90. — Spread  of  the  Babylonian  Calendar,  90. — Greek  and  Roman 
Calendars,  91. — The  Common  Origin  of  All  Zodiacs,  94. — Sagit- 
tarius and  Asur,  96-97. — Sagittarius,  Scorpio  and  Mithras,  97-98. — 
Ahura  and  Asur,  99-100. — Constellations  Older  Than  the  Twelve 
Mansions,  100-103. — Changes  in  Names  and  Pictorial  Representa- 
tions, 103-107. — Christ,  the  Scarab  of  God,  107. — The  Chinese 
Zodiac,  108. — The  Twelve  Mansions  in  China,  110-112. — The  Twelve 
Double  Hours,  111-112. 

A  Throneless  King  AND  His  Empire 113 

Confucius,  113. — Filial  Piety,  122. 

The  Chinese  Problem 136 

Chinese  Characteristics,  136.^ — Rev.  R.  Morrison's  Views,  140. — 
Glimpses  of  Chinese  History,  149. — China's  National  Novel,  154. — 
Social  Conditions,  164. — The  Three  Recognised  Religions,  166. — 
Christian  Missions,  169. — Western  Insolence,  175. — The  Tai  Ping 
Rebellion,  178.— The  Yellow  Peril,  183. 

Conclusion 187 


589253 


CHINESE  SCRIPT. 

COMMUNICATION  OF  THOUGHT. 

T  N  China  the  most  ancient  mode  of  recording  thought  was  accom- 
-■■  pHshed  by  chieh  sheng  (|S  ^)  or  "knotted  cords,"  which  is 
alluded  to  by  Lao-Tze  in  his  Tao  Teh  King,  iiS^/  (written  in 
the  sixth  century  before  Christ)  as  the  ancient  and  venerable,  though 
awkward,  mode  of  writing,  and  also  by  Confucius  in  the  third 
appendix  to  the  Yih  King.^ 

All  detailed  knowledge  of  the  use  of  knotted  cords  in  China 
has  been  entirely  lost,  but  we  can  easily  understand  that  it  was  a 
mnemo-technic  method  of  remembering  data  of  various  kinds  and 
communicating  ideas.  The  same  practice  prevailed  in  ancient  Peru 
as  well  as  among  the  islanders  of  Oceania,  and  seems  to  have  been 
common  all  over  the  globe  among  the  peoples  of  a  primitive  civili- 
sation. 

In  South  America  the  knotted  cords  are  calfed  "quippu"  and 
some  that  are  still  preserved  in  ethnological  collections  were  used 
to  indicate  the  tribute  to  be  paid  to  the  Incas  by  the  several  tribes. 
They  consist  of  woolen  threads,  the  different  colors  of  which  repre- 
sent different  kinds  of  produce :  corn,  wheat,  fruits,  furs,  etc.,  while 
the  number  of  knots  register  the  amount  or  measure.^ 

*See  Lao-Tze's  Tao  Teh  King,  Chapter  80. 

^  Section  23.  See  James  Legge's  translation  in  Sacred  Books  of  the  East, 
Vol.  XVI,  p.  385. 

'What  can  be  done  with  knotted  strings  is  well  illustrated  by  the  fact 
that  a  string  alphabet  has  been  invented  for  the  use  of  the  blind  in  which 
the  letters  are  indicated  by  form  or  arrangement.    The  knots  are  easily  made 


2  '      r  ^  \  /'  i  i  .C^II^^ESE  THOUGHT. 

Hfei^Hoiisk  liifoiTins ';  US  tha^  King  Darius  when  fighting  the 
Scythians  gave  his  orders  to  the  lonians  in  the  form  of  a  leathern 
thong  with  sixty  knots  in  it,  thereby  indicating  the  number  of  days 
in  which  they  should  expect  his  return.  We  thus  see  that  the  Per- 
sians employed  the  same  mnemo-technic  means  that  have  been  dis- 
covered in  several  South  Sea  islands  as  well  as  in  America,  and  we 
may  assume  that  the  ancient  Chinese  knotted  cords  {chieh  sheng) 
also  were  in  principle  the  same. 

Knotted  cords  were  replaced  by  notched  bamboo  sticks,  and  the 
incised  characters  may  in  olden  times  have  been  as  primitive  as  are 
mnemotechnic  communications  of  the  American  Indians,  such  as 
prayer-sticks  and  such  other  pictorial  writings  as  are  still  extant. 

The  invention  of  writing  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word  is 
credited  to  Ts'ang  Hieh  (if  111),  also  called  Shih  'Huang  (^  ^), 
the  "Record  Sovereign'*  because  he  is  the  protector  and  patron 
saint  of  history  and  archival  documents.  He  is  said  to  have  lived 
in  the  twenty-eighth  century  B.  C,  and  having  ascended  a  mountain 
overlooking  the  river  Loh,  he  saw  a  divine  tortoise  rising  from  the 
water.  It  exhibited  on  its  back  mysterious  tracings  of  letters  which 
"lay  bare  the  permutations  of  nature  to  devise  a  system  of  written 
records,"^ — a  report  which  imputes  that  he  saw  the  characters  of 
the  five  elements  on  the  tortoise's  back. 

It  is  not  impossible  that  Chinese  writing  has  been  introduced 
from  ancient  Mesopotamia,  a  theory  vigorously  advocated  by  M. 
Terrien'de  Lacouperie,  rejected  by  many,  but,  after  all,  sufficiently 
probable  to  deserve  serious  consideration,  for  we  cannot  deny  that 
many  Chinese  symbols  exhibit  a  remarkable  similarity  to  the  ideo- 
gram.s  of  both  ancient  Babylonia  and  ancient  Egypt,  and  remember- 
ing the  fact  that  Chinese  bottles  have  been  discovered  in  Egyptian 
tombs  and  also  in  Asia  minor,  we  cannot  help  granting  that  in 
prehistoric  days  there  must  have  been  more  trade,  and  more  travel, 
and  a -greater  exchange  of  thought  than  is  generally  assumed. 

and  sufficiently  different  to  be  easily  deciphered.    The  Standard  Dictionary, 
II,  p.  1780,  contains  an  illustration  of  the  string  alphabet. 

•Mayers's  Chinese  Reader's  Manual,  p.  228,  I,  No.  756. 


CHINESE  SCRIPT. 


We  here  reproduce  from  Garrick  Mallery's  work  on  Picture 
Writing  of  the  American  Indians,''  a  table  of  symbols  which  shows 
the  cuneiform  signs  in  three  forms ;  pictorial,  hieratic,  and  cursive, 
the  Chinese  and  the  Egyptian  in  parallel  columns. 


Chinese, 

EgfpHan 

FtOoreal 

Hieratic 

Ci£r'.stv€^ 

o 

O 

*;.*!. 

0 

0 

Stcrte, 

■  \ 

M 

M 

s 

:^ 

c^ 

HctncL. 

^>« 

0< 

!!< 

1 

'^ 

-FCsTi^ 

>— *< 

Ss«S 

*»4 

Corpses. 

=1 

fcl 

=1 

^ 

s-^*- 

Tl^odr. 

cd 

=r3 

t.=T 



— 

Cave^  i 

s 

iiim 

fTTn 



'h 

Home^ 

^ 

<gl 

K 

® 

J^ouce. 

W 

ir 

"^ 

•  •  •  e 

e  e  e  e 

Bound" 
ary 

f 

# 

-I 

%  •  *  %" 

3»C 

Goa 

0 

<v 

1- 

— 

— 

Ean 

.'I 

n 

ir 

?} 

/w^w 

Wuien 

-n 

TU 

Mr 

Hor-ri. 

+: 

•f 

•f 

+ 

Hair. 

"   \ 

=j=^ 

/  ^ 

I?007- 

or-Oezie^ 

MALLERY  S   TABLE. 

A  Comparison  of  the  Cuneiform,  Chinese,  and  Egyptian  Systems  of  Writing. 
The  words  omitted  in  the  Chinese  column  of  Mr.  Mallery's 


''Ann.  Rep.  of  the  B.  of  Ethn.,  1888-9,  p.  675.  Mr.  Mallery  does  not 
state  the  source  from  which  it  is  taken.  It  may  be  from  W.  St.  Chad,  Bos- 
cawen,  or  M.  T.  Lacouperie. 


4  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

table  (God,  ear,  home)  are  not  less  remarkable  instances  than  the 
others. 

The  word  "God"  is  more  similar  than  it  appears  if  we  were 
to  judge  merely  from  its  external  shape.  In  cuneiform  writing  as 
well  as  in  Egyptian  it  is  a  star,  and  the  Chinese  word  shih  (^) 
shows  a  horizontal  dash  and  underneath  three  perpendicular  wave 
lines.  This  seems  very  different  from  the  Babylonian  and  Egyptian 
conceptions,  but  the  Chinese  character  is  explained  to  mean  "light 
from  the  sky"  or  "celestial  manifestation,"  the  dash  on  top  meaning 
"the  heavens,"  and  the  three  vertical  lines  depict  the  emanations  in 
the  form  of  rays. 

The  character  for  "ear,"  in  its  present  form  "^  Crh),  might 
very  well  have  originated  from  the  Babylonian.  The  same  is  true  of 
the  Chinese  character  that  denotes  "field,"  or  "farm  land,"  which 
may  very  well  be  used  in  the  sense  of  "homestead."  The  character 
t'ien  (  0 )  is  in  principle  the  same  as  the  pictorial  Babylonian  and 
the  hieroglyphic  Egyptian. 

Further,  we  have  to  add  that  the  Chinese  word  meaning 
"corpse"  is  explained  as  "body  lying"  and  thus  resembles  the 
Egyptian  word  for  "mummy"  which  in  different  senses  is  repre- 
sented either  as  a  standing  or  a  lying  mummy. 

We  have  to  correct  a  mistake  in  Mr.  Mallery's  table ;  the  word 
"half"  in  Chinese  is  not  a  cross,  but  either  half  a  tree  or  the  ideo- 
gram "cow"  combined  with  the  character  "division."  A  cross 
means  "completion"  and  the  complete  number  of  our  fingers,  viz. 
ten. 

Whether  or  not  the  theory  of  Lacouperie  be  tenable,  one  thing 
is  sure,  that  all  three  systems  of  writing,  the  Babylonian,  the  Egyp- 
tian, and  the  Chinese,  have  begun  with  pictorial  representations  of 
the  objects  which,  according  to  circumstances,  were  conventionalised 
in  different  ways. 

The  writing  material  always  influences  the  character  of  a  script. 
Thus,  after  the  invention  of  brush  and  paper,  the  method  of  writing 
down  from  top  to  bottom  was  naturally  retained,  but  the  script 
acquired  that  peculiar  picturesque  character  of  brush  dashes  which 
it  still  possesses. 


CHINESE  SCRIPT. 


The  hair  brush  is  called  mao-pi,  or  simply  pi  (bamboo  pencil),* 
and  tradition  states  that  General  Meng  T'ien  was  the  inventor  of 
writing  with  a  brush, — a  statement  which  is  not  impossible  but 


"m:^^'^f/^^ 


tortoiHC,  chariot,  child,  elephant,  deer,  vase,  hill,  eye 


kyei,  ch),  tsz\  eiang,  lah,  bn,  shan,       muh. 

PICTORIAL  WRITING  CONVENTIONALISED.t 

strange,  for  he  was  the  most  faithful  servant  of  Shih  Hwang  Ti, 
the  great  hater  of  ancient  literature,  who  on  capital  punishment 
ordered  all  the  ancient  books  burned.  Shih  Hwang  was  a  warlike 
emperor  who  ruled  from  259  until  210  B.  C,  and  for  the  first  time 
(in  222  B.  C.)  united  the  entire  Chinese  empire  under  one  scepter. 
He  is  the  same  who  erected  the  great  wall,  so  expensive  and  at  the 
same  time  so  useless,  and  General  Meng  T'ien  was  in  command  of 
the  laborers.  When  the  Emperor  died.  General  Meng  T'ien  is  said 
to  have  committed  suicide.^ 

We  .here  reproduce  a  list  of  ornamental  Chinese  characters 
which  are  commonly,  and  without  doubt  rightly,  assumed  to  repre- 
sent the  most  ancient  forms  of  Chinese  writing  with  a  brush. 

rj    Boundary  (p)  (^    To  wrap  {/^) 

\Qj    To  revolve  ((aj)  ]  J        Mountain  (|lj ) 


*  The  character  ^   pi  consists   of  the   radical   "bamboo"   and  the   word 
"brush"  or  "stylus." 

t  Reproduced  from  Wilhams's  Middle  Kingdom. 

*  See  Mayers,  loc.  cit.,  Nos.  597  and  497. 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

Grass 


\)l     Water  (Tic)  Y 

1)1  ' 

n^     River  OH) 


Grass 

Boy,  Child  (^) 


II  III    Rain 

m 


Rain  (later^ 
character) 


J-  ^ 

'Jl        Earth  (±)  -^ 


^LP     Constellation  (g) 


Star  (g) 


Thread 


Elephant,  Idea 

Thread        ^  ^ 
another 
form) 


Wheat  (^) 


jM    Island  (^)  pf 

-sV  ^     Tree(;t;) 

^^    Wings  (^)  ^ 

VL/xl/  Wood  (;f^;) 
"2^    Wheel,  Carriage  ($)       ^^ 


ffl    Field  (ffl)  j|^ 

\\       une-naii  ^^nau 
Boundary  (J)  V^  a  tree)  (;t) 


Forest  (|^) 
One-half  (half 


CHINESE  SCRIPT. 


^      Fruit  (J^) 


Q      Sun(e) 
jj)     Moon(^) 


>> 


G  m    Bright  (Sun 

and  Moon) 

Bright    (Moon    /^ 
shining  in 
window) 


? 


Evening  (^) 


:2      Many(^) 


Ear  (15) 
/j^     Heart  (>i»0 
(^     Flesh  (0^) 
y      Mouth  (U) 


^     Muscle  (  :)j) 
V      Infant,  Feeble  (^) 


Weak  (infan 

muscle)  (^) 

Male  (muscle  working 
in  field)  (^) 


y 


Teeth 


yj       Teeth 
lAAl  (later 

Aj  form) 


j  Complete,  ten  (-f-) 

Cb  Middle  (t^) 

j  Above  (j^) 

I  Below  (  T) 

y    (  Divide, 

I    ^  Eight 

/^  Tocut(>9.) 


Gate  (n)^ 

Between  ([§]) 
(A) 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


Crooked  (gg)  UZZ.    Humaneness  ({;: ) 


h—    H, 


Hatred  (Crookedness        ((K     Compare 
^^  of  heart)  (^)         \V  \ 

Compare 


--p-      Cow  (41) 


^  Half  (Cow  divided)  (*)     W  Invert,  change  ( t) 

Y  Horns*  )]  <!  Conversion  (^^;) 

>/-■  „,  ,^ .  >>  ff  Looking  backward, 

H—  Sheep  (#.)  n\\  To  flee  before 

I  l'  enemy  (North)  (;||;) 

%  Justice  (my  sheep)  (a)  ^)^[|  Manyf 


^ 


Beauty  (large^^  ^^^  Multitude  (f}^ ) 


Man  (A) 


Most  of  the  symbols  of  the  list  explain  themselves.  A  "bound- 
ary" is  a  simple  line  of  enclosure.  "Revolve''  is  a  curve.  The  mean- 
ing of  the  signs  "to  wrap,"  "mountain,"  **water,"  "river,"  "rain," 
"horns,"  "grass,"  "child,"  "constellation"  or  "star,"  "thread," 
"wheat,"  "tree,"  "fruit,"  "sun,"  "moon,"  is  obvious  enough.  The 
symbols  "elephant,"  "bird,"  "heart"  require  more  imagination;  but 

*  This  character  does  not  exist  in  modern  Chinese. 
fNot  used  in  modern  Chinese. 


CHINESE  SCRIPT.  9 

the  original  picture  is  still  recognisable  in  them.  The  word  "flesh" 
is  meant  as  a  slice  of  meat.  "Mouth,"  "teeth,"  "eye,"  are  also  in- 
tended to  depict  the  objects.  The  word  "muscle"  represents  the 
upper  arm,  and  in  connection  with  the  word  "weak"  which  origi- 
nally means  also  "infant,"  it  denotes  "lack  of  strength."  A  char- 
acter consisting  of  two  lines,  representing  two  pieces  cut  off,  means 
"to  divide."  Later  the  character  "knife,"  as  the  instrument  by 
which  the  division  is  to  be  made,  was  added.  Crooked  roads  mean 
"crooked"  or  "evil,"  and  in  combination  vC^ith  the  word  "heart"  we 
have  the  word  "hatred."  In  the  symbol  "cow"  the  horns  form  the 
most  prominent  part,  the  body  being  reduced  to  a  mere  cross.  The 
symbol  "cow"  combined  with  the  symbol  "division"  means  "half." 
The  picture  of  a  sheep  shows  the  symbol  "horns"  on  the  top  while 
the  rest  is  scarcely  recognisable.  The  symbol  "sheep"  in  combi- 
nation with  the  symbol  "mine"  represents  the  character  "justice," 
because  the  ancient  Chinese  were  shepherds,  and  their  main  quarrels 
in  courts  of  justice  were  disputes  about  the  ownership  of  sheep; 
and  their  idea  of  beauty  was  expressed  by  "a  sheep"  that  is  "great." 
The  symbol  "middle"  is  easily  understood  and  so  are  the  symbols 
"below"  and  "above."  The  character  "gate"  is  a  picture  of  a 
double  doorway,  and  the  character  "between"  shows  a  mark  between 
the  two  posts  of  the  gate.  The  character  "sun"  or  "moon"  and  a 
picture  of  a  "window"  means  "bright,"  for  if  the  moon  shines  into 
the  window  it  denotes  "brightness,"  and  "sun  and  moon"  in  their 
combination  mean  the  same,  viz.,  the  best  light  there  is  in  the 
world.  The  ideogram  "moon,"  if  written  in  a  special  way,  is  read 
^'evening,"  and  if  "moon"  is  repeated  it  means  "many  evenings," 
or  simply  "many."  The  earth  is  represented  by  a  horizontal  line 
on  which  a  cross  stands,  implying  that  the  soil  of  the  earth  is 
stable;  it  is  the  place  on  which  to  take  a  stand.  Two  trees  mean 
"wood,"  three  trees  "forest."  If  the  tree  is  cut  in  two,  it  originally 
denotes  "one-half,"  later  on  it  acquired  the  meaning  "part  or  par- 
cel," and  finally  "piece." 

The  outline  map  of  a  field  means  "field"  or  "farm,"  and  lines 
limiting  two  fields  mean  "frontier"  or  "boundary." 

If  the  character  "man,"  of  which  only  the  legs  are  left,  has  the 


lO  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

symbol  "two"  attached  to  it,  it  means  the  relation  which  obtains 
between  two  or  several  people,  viz.,  "humanity,"  "humaneness,"  or 
"kindness."  One  man  or  two  men  turned  the  other  way  means  "to 
compare."  A  man  upside  down  means  "to  invert,"  "to  change." 
One  man  in  his  normal  position,  and  the  other  upside  down  ac- 
quires the  sense  of  "transformation"  or  "conversion."  One  man  in 
a  normal  position  and  another  man  looking  the  other  way  means 
"north,"  for  the  Chinese  determine  directions  by  looking  south; 
hence,  to  look  backward  means  "north."  The  symbol  consisting  of 
three  men  means  "many."  To  this  symbol  is  frequently  attached  the 
character  "eye,"  and  thereby  it  acquires  the  meaning  "many  as  a 
unit,"  i.  e.,  "a  multitude." 

A  pretty  instance  of  Chinese  word  formation  is  the  word  shu 
iW),  which  means  "book"  or  "treatise,"  and  is  composed  of  the 
characters  "brush"  and  "speak,"  the  idea  being  that  it  is  a  thing 
in  which  "the  brush  speaks." 

There  are  several  styles  of  Chinese  script  (shu),  and  we  here 
reproduce  from  Professor  Williams's  Middle  Kingdom  (Vol.  II, 
p.  594)  a  table  which  shows  at  a  glance  their  similarities  and  dif- 
ferences. The  most  old-fashioned  style  is  called  "the  seal  script," 
or,  after  the  name  of  the  inventor,  Chiien  Shu.  The  second  is  the 
official  style,  or  Lieh  Shu,  used  for  engrossing  documents  and  com- 
monly considered  the  most  elegant  form  of  writing.  The  third  is 
called  the  pattern  or  normal  style  (Kiai  Shu)  ;  because  it  preserves 
most  clearly  the  essential  character  of  Chinese  writing.  The  fourth 
is  a  shorthand  and  demotic  style  called  cursive  script  or  Hing^^  Shu, 
much  used  in  practical  life.  It  is  the  most  difficult  for  foreigners  to 
read,  as  many  lines  are  run  together,  thus  obliterating  the  distinct- 
ness of  the  original  character.  The  fifth  style  is  called  the  grass 
script  or  Tsao  Shu.  It  is  almost  an  approach  to  the  easy  hand  of 
the  Japanese,  and  its  name  may  be  translated  "fancy  style."  Under 
the  Sung  dynasty  a  new  style  was  adopted  which  is  practically  the 
same  as  the  normal  style,  only  showing  more  regularity,  and  it  is 


^^Hing  means  "to  walk,"  "to  run";  and  as  a  noun  the  same  character 
means  "element." 


CHINESE  SCRIPT. 


II 


Sung 
style 


Fancy       Cursive 
style  style 


Normal        Official 
style  style 


Seal 
style 


1 


H 


H 


EI 


-3? 


-€? 


^ 

io 

^  J 


^ 


1E7 


•  > 


J>^ 


^ 


^ 


E7 

5t 
El 


j^ 


5? 


^'^ 


Q 


B 

a 

n 

e 


Writing 
has 


styles, 


VIZ., 


seal. 


official, 


normal, 


VIZ., 


runnmg  or 
cursive, 


VIZ., 


grass  or 

fancy 


VIZ., 


Sung. 


SIX   DIFFERENT   STYLES   OF   CHINESE    WRITING. 

(Reproduced  from  Williams's  Middle  Kingdom.) 


12  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

commonly  called  Sung  Shu  which  has  become  the  pattern  of  modem 
Chinese  print. 

The  writing  of  Chinese  requires  eight  different  kinds  of  dashes, 
and  the  word  yung  (yk),  "eternal,"  contains  all  of  them.  This 
significant  character  accordingly  has  become  the  typical  word  with 
which  Chinese  scholars  start  their  calligraphic  lessons. 


^^ 


'   -  "t   7  =1  ^  ^'  ^< 


Dot      Hori-      Perpen-     Hook    Dash     Sweep      Spike       Curve 
zontal      dicular 

THE  ELEMENTS  OF  CHINESE  SCRIPT. 


The  little  mark  like  a  fat  upward  comma  is  called  dot.  Among 
the  lines  we  have  a  horizontal  and  a  perpendicular.  Further  there 
is  a  hook,  which  latter  is  added  to  the  perpendicular  by  joining  to 
its  lower  end  a  dot  line.  A  dash  is  a  short  horizontal  line.  A  taper- 
ing line  downward  is  called  a  sweep,  upward  a  spike,  and  a  smaller 
sweep  in  the  shape  of  a  big  downward  comma,  stroke.  A  crooked 
line  is  called  a  curve. 

STOCK  PHRASES  AND  STAPLE  THOUGHTS. 

The  Chinese  are  in  the  habit  of  propounding  their  favorite 
notions  and  beliefs  in  enumerations.  They  are  so  accustomed  to 
the  mathematical  conception  of  Yang  and  Yin  that  they  would 
agree  with  Pythagoras  who  finds  in  number  the  explanation  of  the 
world. 

The  Chinese  speak  of  the  Hang  i,  i.  e.,  the  two  primary  forms 
representing  the  positive  and  negative  principles.  Further  they 
speak  of  the  two  great  luminaries,  sun  and  moon ;  the  two  divinities 
presiding  over  war  and  peace,  the  two  emperors  of  antiquity,  the 
two  first  dynasties,  viz.,  the  Hsia  and  Yin;  and  the  two  venerable 
men  that  hailed  the  advent  of  the  Chow  dynasty,  etc. 

The  number  "three"  plays  an  important  part  in  Chinese  enume- 
rations. There  are  three  systems  of  religion  authorised  by  the 
government:  Confucianism,  or  the  system  of  the  Literati  (j^  )  ;  Bud- 


CHINESE  SCRIPT. 


13 


dhism,  or  the  system  of  Shakya  Muni  (H)  ;  Taoism  or  the  system 
of  Lao  Tze  (3^).  There  are  three  kinds  of  heavenly  light:  of  the 
sun,  the  moon,  and  the  stars.  In  Chinese  ethics  there  are  three 
forms  of  obedience:  of  a  subject  toward  his  sovereign,  of  the  son 
toward  his  father,  of  a  wife  toward  her  husband.  There  are  three 
mental  qualities  (f^  )  of  a  student:  application  (S),  memory  (fg), 
understanding^  (M)-  There  are  the  three  gems  worshipped  by 
Buddhists,  the  Buddha,  the  Dhaima,  and  the  Sangha.     There  are 


THE   THREE   GEMS   OF   BUDDHISM. 


three  pure  ones  or  precious  ones  worshipped  in  the  Taoist  temples, 
probably  in  imitation  of  the  Buddhist  trinity.  There  are  three  cere- 
monial rituals ;  one  in  worshipping  heavenly  spirits,  another  in  wor- 
shipping spirits  of  the  earth,  and  the  third  one  in  worshipping  the 
spirits  of  ancestors.  There  are  three  sacrificial  animals :  the  ox,  the 
goat,  the  pig.  There  are  three  holy  men :  Yao,  Shun,  and  Yii. 
There  are  three  auspicious  constellations :  the  constellation  of  hap- 
piness,  the   constellation   of   emolument,   and   the   constellation   of 


14  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

longevity.  There  are  three  kinds  of  abundance  that  is  desirable: 
abundance  of  good  fortune,  abundance  of  years,  abundance  of  sons 
There  are  three  powers  (H  /f)  of  nature:  heaven  (^),  earth  (^), 
man  (A)-  There  are  three  regions  of  existence,  the  heavens,  the 
earth  and  the  waters.  There  are  three  degrees  of  kinship.  Fur- 
ther there  are  three  penal  sentences:  the  death  penalty,  corporeal 
punishment,  and  imprisonment.  There  are  three  tribunals  of  jus- 
tice: the  board  of  punishments,  the  court  of  judicature  or  appellate 
court,  and  the  censorate  or  supreme  court.  There  are  three  forms 
of  taxation :  land  taxation,  a  service  of  twenty  days  labor  each  year, 
and  tithes  of  the  produce.  There  are  three  great  rivers :  the  Yellow 
River,  the  Loh,  and  the  I.  There  are  three  great  river  defiles: 
Kwang  Tung,  the  Valley  of  the  Yang  Tse  Kiang,  and  the  defiles 
of  the  Si  Ling  on  the  Yellow  River.  There  are  three  primordial 
sovereigns:  Fuh  Hi,  Shen  Nung,  and  Hwang  Ti.  In  addition 
there  are  innumerable  sets  of  three  in  the  literature  of  the  Confu- 
cianists,  the  Buddhists,  the  Taoists,  and  also  in  history. 

The  number  "four"  is  not  less  frequent.  We  have  four  quad- 
rants and  four  divisions  of  the  heavens ;  the  East  is  the  division  of 
the  azure  dragon,  the  North  of  the  somber  warrior,  the  South  of 
the  Vermillion  bird,  and  the  West  of  the  white  tiger.  There  are 
four  supernatural  creatures  considered  as  endowed  with  spirituality : 
tin  (t^)  or  unicorn,  feng  (H)  or  phoenix,  kwei  (^)  or  tortoise, 
and  lung  (||)  or  dragon.  The  scholar  possesses  four  treasures 
(K  )  :  ink  ( g  ) ,  paper  ( |j]^) ,  brush  (H  ) ,  and  ink  slab  (;bm)  ."  There 
are  four  figures  which  originate  by  combining  the  two  primordial 
essences  in  groups  of  two,  the  great  yang^  the  small  yang,  the  great 
yin  and  the  small  yin.  There  are  four  cardinal  points  and  four 
members  of  the  human  frame. 

Instances  of  the  number  "five"  are  above  all  the  five  blessings 
(5  Ji©)  •  longevity  (S),  riches  (a),  peacefulness  (J^)  and  seren- 
ity (^),  the  love  of  virtue  (i\X  i[fWi)>  and  a  happy  consummation 
of  life  (^  ^  ^).    There  are  five  eternal  ideals  ( ^')  •  humaneness 


"  The  Chinese  have  no  ink  stand  but  use  a  slab  upon  which  they  rub 
their  ink,  taking  it  as  does  a  painter  from  a  palette. 


CHINESE  SCRIPT.  I5 

(il),  Uprightness  (^),  propriety  (|f ),  insight  (^),  and  faith- 
fulness (]$).  There  are  five  elements  (£  iff)  :  water,  fire,  wood, 
metal,  earth.  There  are  five  cardinal  relations  among  mankind: 
between  sovereign  and  subject  (:^  g),  between  father  and  son 
( 5C  ^  )  J  between  elder  brother  and  younger  brother  (  3£  ^  ) ,  be- 
tween husband  and  wife  (^fi§),  between  friend  and  friend  (^  ^). 
There  are  five  genii :  of  spring,  of  summer,  of  mid-year,  of  autumn, 
and  of  winter.  There  are  five  beasts  used  for  offerings :  the  ox,  the 
goat,  the  pig,  the  dog,  the  fowl.  There  are  five  colors:  black,  red, 
azure,  white,  yellow.     There  are  five  classes  of  spiritual  beings: 

THE  FIVE  IDEALS.  THE  FIVE  BLESSINGS. 

ghosts  or  disembodied  human  spirits,  spiritual  men,  immortalised 
beings  living  in  this  world,  deified  spirits  who  have  departed  from 
the  material  world  and  live  in  the  islands  of  the  blest,  and  the  celes- 
tial gods  who  enjoy  perpetual  life  in  heaven,  There  are  five  planets: 
Venus,  Jupiter,  Mercury,  Mars,  and  Saturn.  Further  the  Buddhists 
enumerate  five  attributes  of  existence:  form,  perception,  conscious- 
ness, action,  and  knowledge.  There  are  five  degrees  bf  feudal  rank, 
five  tastes,  five  notes  of  harmony  in  music,  five  sacred  mountains, 
five  kinds  of  charioteering,  five  colors  of  clouds,  five  ancient  em- 
perors, five  imperial  courts,  five  kinds  of  mourning,  etc.,  etc. 


M^ 


i6 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


NORMAL  STYLE. 


GRASS  STYLE.  A  NEW  YEARS  CARD.'* 

THE  CHARACTER  ^"BLESSING."" 


Sis 

THE  FIVE  BATS. 
(After  a  Tibetan  picture.) 


*    The  deity  Wen  Ch'ang  points  upward,  indicating  that  all  blessings 
come  from  heaven. 


CHINESE  SCRIPT.  1'] 

The  characters  which  stand  for  the  five  blessings,  and  also  the 
five  eternal  ideals,  are  naturally  the  most  popular  symbols  all  over 
China.  They  are  used  for  congratulations  and  are  inscribed  upon 
wall  pendants  as  ornaments.  Among  them  the  characters  "longev- 
ity" and  "blessing"  are  most  used  of  all.  They  appear  upon  the 
decanters  of  convivial  meetings;  they  are  written  on  the  bottom  of 
tea  cups;  they  are  wrought  into  artistic  forms  of  furniture;  they 


CHINESE   SAUCER    WITH    PHOENIX   AND   DRAGON. 

The  centre  contains  the  character  fu  "blessing." 

are  used  for  buckles,  on  pins,  on  dresses,  and  as  ornaments  of  every 
description. 

Blessing  is  called  fu  in  Chinese,  which  is  an  exact  homophone 
of  fu  meaning  "bat,"  and  so  the  five  blessings,  wu  fu,  are  frequently 
represented  by  five  bats. 

The  word  "longevity"  is  commonly  transcribed  by  sheu/^  and 

*  The  diphthong  eu  in  sheu  is  to  be  pronounced  separately  and  in  conti- 
nental pronunciation,  as  English  ay  and  with  following  u.     Giles  transcribes 


i8 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


means  "old  age,  years,  a  long  and  prosperous  life,  birthday,  to  en- 
dure, forever,"  etc.,  and  is  also  euphemistically  used  for  ''death." 

The  popularity  of  the  word  exceeds  every  other  perhaps  in  any 
language,  and  the  character  is  conspicuous  in  China  everywhere 
and  in  innumerable  variations.  .       . 

As  an  instance  of  this  tend- 
ency we  reproduce  the  adjoined 
illustration,  which  is  a  photo- 
graph of  the  upper  part  of  one 
of  three  tablets  containing  speci- 
mens of  ornamental  characters 
meaning  sheii,  ''long  life-"  The 
characters  are  over  two  inches 
in  height,  and  are  made  of 
mother  of  pearl,  in  high  relief,  on 
a  red  background.  On  the  three 
tablets  there  are  altogether  i8o 
different  characters.  The  tab- 
lets belonged  to  the  leader  of  the 
T'ai  Ping,  the  Christian  Chinese 
sect  who  rebelled  against  the 
present  Manchu  dynasty  and 
were  subdued  with  the  assist- 
ance of  General  Gordon.  They 
passed  into  the  hands  of  Julius 
Saur,  who  was  at  that  time  a 
resident  of  Shanghai,  when  he 
went  to  Nanking,  in  company  with  Captain  Fishborn,  to  treat  for 
peace. 

The  meaning  of  the  symbol  "longevity"  is  not  limited  to  the 
secular  meaning  of  long  life  in  this  world,  but  is  endowed  with 
religious  signification  verging  on  the  idea  of  immortality  among 
Western  peoples. 


the  word  shou.  The  character  consists  of  radical  33  (pronounced  see,  i.  e., 
"scholar")  and  eleven  additional  strokes  made  up  of  the  words  "old,"  "to 
speak"  and  "word." 


CHINESE  SCRIPT. 


19 


The  star  of  longevity  is  Canopus,  which  is  a  of  Argo. 

Ancient  traditions  tell  us  that  Si  Wang  Mu,  the  Royal  Mother 
of  the  West,  who  lives  in  the  Kwun  Lun  Mountains,  possesses  a 
peach-tree  bearing  fruit  but  once  in  three  thousand  years.    From  the 


Sis 


THE  LONGEVITY  SYMBOL  IN  DIFFERENT  STYLES. 

peaches  of  this  tree  the  elixir  of  life  can  be  distilled,  and  this  is  the 
reason  why  the  peach  symbolises  longevity.  Other  symbols  of 
longevity  are  the  pine-tree,  the  crane,  and  the  tortoise.* 


*For  special  reference  see  De  Groot's  Religious  Systems  of  China,  pp. 

56-57- 


20 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


Of  enumerations  in  sets  of  six  we  will  only  mention  the  six 
accomplishments:  intelligence,  humanity,  holiness,  sincerity,  mod- 
eration (keeping  the  middle  path),  and  benignity;  further  the  six 
forms  of  writing:  the  seal  character,  the  ancient  official  style,  the 
normal  style,  the  cursive  style,  the  grass  style,  and  the  printer's 
style. 

There  are  fewer  enumerations  of  seven  than  might  be  ex- 
pected. We  mention  the  seven  sages  in  the  bamboo  grove,  the  seven 
precious  things  (Sapta  Ratna)  of  the  Buddhists,  the  seven  primary 


THE  CHARACTER 


ON  CUFF  BUTTON. 


LONGEVITY  PIN. 


notes  of  music,  the  seven  stars  of  Ursa  Major  commonly  called  "the 
dipper,"  the  seven  apertures  of  the  head :  ears,  eyes,  nostrils,  and 
mouth;  the  seven  luminaries:  sun,  moon,  and  the  five  planets;  the 
seven  emotions:  joy,  anger,  grief,  fear,  love,  hatred,  desire. 

The  most  important  set  of  eight  is  the  eight  kwa  or  trigrams. 

The  figure  "nine"  is  represented  as  the  nine  heavens,  situated, 
one  in  the  center,  and  the  eight  remaining  ones  in  the  eight  divi- 
sions of  the  compass.     There  are  further  nine  degrees  of  official 


CHINESE  SCRIPT. 


21 


rank,  and  nine  divisions  of  the  Great  Plan,  an  ancient  Chinese  state 
document. 


LONGEVITY      DECANTER. 


CANDELABRUM   WITH      LONGEVITY 
AND  ''happiness''  SYMBOLS. 


LONGEVITY 
CHOPSTICK  HOLDER. 


There  are  ten  canonical  books :  the  Book  of  Changes,  the  Book 
of  History,  the  Book  of  Odes,  the  Record  of  Rites,  the  Ritual  of  the 


2.2  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

Chow  Dynasty,  the  Decorum  Ritual,  the  Annals  of  Confucius,  the 
Three  Commentaries,  the  Conversations  of  Confucius  {^Lun  Fi7), 
and  the  Book  of  Filial  Piety.  There  are  ten  commandments  and  ten 
heinous  offences. 

Of  twelve  we  have  the  twelve  animals  of  the  duodenary  cycle 
called  rat,  ox,  tiger,  hare,  dragon,  serpent,  horse,  goat,  monkey, 
cock,  dog,  and  pig.  They  preside,  each  one  over  a  special  hour  of 
the  day  and  the  night  and  are  supposed  to  exercise  an  influence 
peculiar  to  the  character  of  the  several  animals.    There  are  further 


BUCKLE   WITH    CHARACTERS      LONGEVITY      AND      BLESSING. 

twelve  months,  corresponding  to  the  twelve  divisions  of  the  ecliptic, 
and  the  Buddhists  speak  of  the  twelve  Nidanas  or  links  in  the  chain 
of  causation. 

The  figure  ''twenty-eight"  is  important  as  the  number  of  days 
of  a  lunar  month.  Accordingly,  the  heavens  are  divided  into  twenty- 
eight  constellations  or  stellar  mansions,  and  it  is  noteworthy  that 
four  days  in  the  twenty-eight,  corresponding  to  the  Christian  Sun- 
day, have  been  signified  as  resting-days  and  are  denoted  by  the 
character  mi  (^  Q)  which  has  been  traced  to  the  Persian  Mithra 


CHINESE  SCRIPT. 


23 


and  proves  that,  in  remote  antiquity,  Mithraism  must  have  exercised 
an  influence  upon  Chinese  habits. ^^ 


CRANE   AND   TORTOISE.* 
Symbols  of  long  life.     (Bronze  candlestick.) 

These  enumerations  are  not  accidental  and  indifferent  notions, 
but  form  the  staple  thoughts  of  Chinese  ethics.    They  have  become 

"  See  Mr.  A.  Wylie's  article  on  the  subject  in  the  Chinese  Recorder, 
Foo  Chow,  June  and  July  numbers,  1871. 

*  The  tortoise  drags  along  the  moss  that  has  grown  on  its  back. 


24 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


fundamental  principles  of  Chinese  morality  and  constitute  the  back- 
bone of  the  convictions  of  every  half-way  educated  inhabitant  of 
China.  Whatever  their  station  in  life  may  be,  all  Chinese  people 
know  these  ideas,  they  bear  them  in  mind  and  allow  their  lives  to 
be  determined  by  the  conception  of  the  five  eternal  ideals,  the  five 
virtues,  the  five  blessings,  etc.    They  recognise  in  nature  the  funda- 


THE  LONGEVITY  GARMENT.* 

mental  contrast  of  Yang  and  Yin  as  having  originated  from  the 
great  origin  and  believe  that  the  moral  world  of  social  conditions 
is  governed  by  the  same  law.  Their  highest  ambition  is  to  fulfil 
all  the  demands  of  hsiao,  i.  e.,  "filial  piety."  Scholarship  is  highly 
respected,  and  even  the  lower  classes  are  punctilious  in  the  obser- 
vance of  all  rules  of  propriety. 


*  Reproduced  from  Professor  De  Groot's  Religious  Systems  of  China, 
page  60. 


CHINESE  OCCULTISM. 

TIELIEF  in  mysterious  agencies  characterises  a  certain  period 
^  in  the  rehgious  development  of  every  nation.  Even  the  Jews, 
distinguished  among  the  Semites  by  their  soberness,  consulted  Yah- 
veh  through  the  Urim  and  Thummim,  an  oracle  the  nature  of  which 
is  no  longer  definitely  known.  Kindred  institutions  among  most 
nations  are  based  upon  primitive  animism,  or  a  belief  in  spirits,  but 
in  China  we  have  a  very  peculiar  mixture  of  logical  clearness  with 
fanciful  superstitions.  Chinese  occultism  is  based  upon  a  rational, 
nay  a  philosophical,  or  even  mathematical,  conception  of  existence. 
An  original  rationalism  has  here  engendered  a  most  luxurious  growth 
of  mysticism,  and  so  the  influence  of  occultism  upon  the  people  of 
the  Middle  Kingdom  has  been  prolonged  beyond  measure. 


THE  YIH  SYSTEM. 

Among  the  ancient  traditions  of  China  there  is  a  unique  system 
of  symbols  called  the  yih  (^  ) ,  i.  e.,  "permutations"  or  "changes," 

THE  TWO  PRIMARY  FORMS*   ( LIANG  l). 


THE  YANG 

THE  YIH 

Old  form 

O 

• 

Modern  form 

—  — 

*  It  is  difficult  to  translate  the  term  Liang  1.  One  might  call  the  two 
/  "elements,"  if  that  word  were  not  used  in  another  sense.  The  two  /  are 
commonly  referred  to  as  "Elementary  Forms"  or  "Primary  Forms."  De 
Groot  speaks  of  them  as  "Regulators." 


26  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

which  consists  of  all  possible  combinations  of  two  elements,  called 
Hang  «'  (^  ^),  i.  e.,  the  two  elementary  forms,  which  are  the  nega- 
tive principle,  yin  (I^),  and  the  positive  principle,  yang  (^).  The 
four  possible  configurations  of  yang  and  yin  in  groups  of  two  are 
called  ssu  shiang  (pg  ^),  i.  e.,  "the  four  [secondary]  figures";  all 
further  combinations  of  the  elementary  forms  into  groups  of  three 
or  more  are  called  kzva  ( JJ').  In  English,  groups  of  three  elementary 
forms  are  commonly  called  trigrams,  and  groups  of  six,  hexagrams. 

The  book  in  which  the  permutations  of  yang  and  yin  are  re- 
corded, was  raised  in  ancient  times  to  the  dignity  of  a  canonical 
writing,  a  class  of  literature  briefly  called  king  in  Chinese.  Hence 
the  book  is  known  under  the  title  of  Yih  King. 

The  Yih  King  is  one  of  the  most  ancient,  most  curious,  and  most 
mysterious  documents  in  the  world.  It  is  more  mysterious  than  the 
pyramids  of  Egypt,  more  ancient  than  the  Vedas  of  India,  more 
curious  than  the  cuneiform  inscriptions  of  Babylon. 

In  the  earliest  writings,  the  yang  is  generally  represented  as 
a  white  disk  and  the  yin  as  a  black  one ;  but  later  on  the  former  is 
replaced  by  one  long  dash  denoting  strength,  the  latter  by  two  short 
dashes  considered  as  a  broken  line  to  represent  weakness.  Disks 
are  still  used  for  diagrams,  as  in  the  Map  of  Ho  and  the  Table  of 
Loh,  but  the  later  method  was  usually  employed,  even  before  Con- 
fucius, for  picturing  kwa  combinations. 

The  trigrams  are  endowed  with  symbolical  meaning  according 
to  the  way  in  which  yin  and  yang  lines  are  combined.  They  apply 
to  all  possible  relations  of  life  and  so  their  significance  varies. 

Since  olden  times,  the  yih  system  has  been  considered  a  phil- 
osophical and  religious  panacea ;  it  is  believed  to  solve  all  problems, 
to  answer  all  questions,  to  heal  all  ills.  He  who  understands  the 
yih  is  supposed  to  possess  the  key  to  the  riddle  of  the  universe. 

The  yih  is  capable  of  representing  all  combinations  of  existence. 
The  elements  of  the  yih,  yang  the  positive  principle  and  yin  the 
negative  principle,  stand  for  the  elements  of  being.  Yang  means 
"bright,"  and  yin,  "dark."  Yang  is  the  principle  of  heaven;  yin, 
the  principle  of  the  earth.  Yang  is  the  sun,  yin  is  the  moon. 
Yang  is  masculine  and  active ;  yin  is  feminine  and  passive.     The 


CHINESE   CCCIJLTISM. 


27 


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-§6.2  "3 

h.C  c  o 


-i   N  OT    "d 


28 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


former  is  motion ;  the  latter  is  rest.  Yang  is  strong,  rigid,  lordlike ; 
yin  is  mild,  pliable,  submissive,  wifelike.  The  struggle  between, 
and  the  different  mixture  of,  these  two  elementary  contrasts,  con- 
dition all  the  differences  that  prevail,  the  state  of  the  elements,  the 
nature  of  things,  and  also  the  character  of  the  various  personalities 
as  well  as  the  destinies  of  human  beings. 

The  Yih  King  (^  ^)  is  very  old,  for  we  find  it  mentioned  as 
early  as  the  year  1122  B.  C,  in  the  official  records  of  the  Chou 
dynasty,  where  we  read  that  three  different  recensions  of  the  work 

THE  EIGHT  KWA  FIGURES  AND  THE  BINARY  SYSTEM. 


NAME 

TRANSCRIP- 
TION 

MEA^TNGS  OF  THE  CHINESE 
WORD* 

KWA 

P 

^  CO 

n  « 

<  H 

<p 

m 

ch'ien 

tui     • 

li 

Chan 

sun 

k'an 

kan 

kw'un 

to  come  out;  to  rise,  sunrise;  vig- 
orous; (present  meaning)  dry. 

to  weigh;  to  barter;  permeable. 

to  separate. 

to  quake;  to  thunder. 

peaceful;  a  stand  or  pedestal. 

a  pit;  to  dig  a  pit. 

a  limit;  to  stop;  perverse. 

earth;  to  nourish;  yielding. 

111 
no 
101 
100 
on 
010 
001 
000 

7 

6 

^ 

^^" 

^ 

5 

= 

= 

4 

n 
^ 

^^ 

^^ 

3 
2 

^ 

^ 

^ 
i* 

= 

jJJJJ 

1 
0 

*  A  native  student  of  the  Yih  system  does  not  connect  the  usual  meaning  of  the  word 
with  the  names  of  the  eight  Kwas,  and  we  insert  here  a  translation  of  the  character  only  for 
the  sake  of  completeness. 

were  extant,  the  Lien  Shan,  the  Kwei  Ts'ang  and  the  Yih  of  Chou,^ 
of  which,  however,  the  last  one  alone  has  been  preserved. 

This  Yih  of  Chou,  our  present  Yih  King,  exhibits  two  arrange- 
ments of  the  kwa  figures,  of  which  one  is  attributed  to  their  origi- 


*  Lien  Shan  means  "mountain  range"  and  by  some  is  supposed  to  be  a 
nom  de  plume  of  Shen  Nung  (i.  e.  "divine  husbandman"),  the  mythical  ruler 
of  ancient  China  (2737-2697  B.  C),  successor  to  Fuh-Hi.  Others  identify 
Lien  Shan  with  Fuh-Hi.  Kwei  Ts'ang  means  "reverted  hoard"  and  may 
have  been  simply  an  inversion  of  the  Lien  Shan  arrangement.  Its  invention 
is  assigned  to  the  reign  of  Hwang  Ti,  "the  Yellow  Emperor,"  the  third  of  the 
three  rulers,  (2697-2597  B.  C),  a  kind  of  a  Chinese  Numa  Pompilius.  The 
Chou  redaction  of  the  Yih,  which  is  the  latest  one,  is  named  after  the  Choii 
dynasty. 


CHINESE   OCCULTISM. 


29 


nator,  the  legendary  Fuh-Hi,^  the  other  to  Wen  Wang.^  Fuh-Hi 
is  also  called  Feng,*  "wind,"  and  Tai  Ho,^  "the  great  celestial," 
and  he  lived,  according  to  Chinese  records,  from  2852  to  2738  B.  C. 
It  speaks  well  for  the  mathematical  genius  of  the  ancient  found- 
ers of  Chinese  civilisation  that  the  original  order  of  the  yih,  attributed 
to  Fuh-Hi,  corresponds  closely  to  Leibnitz'  Binary  System  of  arith- 
metic. If  we  let  the  yin  represent  o  and  the  yang,  i,  it  appears 
that  the  eight  trigrams  signify  the  first  eight  figures  from  0-7, 
arranged  in  their  proper  arithmetical  order,  and  read  from  below 
upward.     Leibnitz  knew  the  yih  and  speaks  of  it  in  terms  of  high 


FUH-HI.  ^^ 

appreciation.     Indeed  it  is  not  impossible  that  it  suggested  to  him 
his  idea  of  a  binary  system. 

While  Fuh-Hi's  system  exhibits  a  mathematical  order,  Wen 
Wang's  is  based  upon  considerations  of  occultism.  It  stands  to 
reason  that  Fuh-Hi  (by  which  name  we  understand  that  school, 
or  founder  of  a  school,  that  invented  the  yih)  may  not  have  grasped 
the  full  significance  of  his  symbols  in  the  line  of  abstract  thought 
and  especially  in  mathematics,  but  we  must  grant  that  he  was  a 


'ikm 


'%^ 


'xm 


30 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


mathematical  genius,  if  not  in  fact,  certainly  potentially.  As  to 
further  details  our  information  is  limited  to  legends. 

The  case  is  different  with  Wen  Wang,  for  his  life  is  inscribed 
on  the  pages  of  Chinese  history  and  his  character  is  well  known. 

The  personal  name  of  Wen  Wang  (i.  e.,  the  "scholar-king") 
is  Hsi-Peh,  which  means  "Western  Chief."  He  was  the  Duke  of 
Chou,  one  of  the  great  vassals  of  the  empire,  and  lived  from  1231 
to  1 135  B.  C.  In  his  time  the  emperor  was  Chou-Sin,  a  degenerate 
debauche  and  a  tyrant,  the  last  of  the  Yin  dynasty,  who  oppressed 
the  people  by  reckless  imposition  and  provoked  a  just  rebellion. 
Wen  Wang  offended  him  and  was  long  kept  in  prison,  but  his  son 

THE  TRIGRAMS  AS  FAMILY  RELATIONS. 


FATHER 

MOTHER. 

Eldest 
Son 

Second 
Son 

Youngest 
Son 

Eldest 
Daughter 

Second 
Daughter 

Youngest 
Daughter 

ZI  z^ 

^  ■" 

=  = 





Fa,  surnamed  Wu  Wang,  being  forced  into  a  conflict  with  Chou- 
Sin,  overthrew  the  imperial  forces.  The  tyrant  died  in  the  flames  of 
his  palace  which  had  been  ignited  by  his  own  hands.  Wu  Wang^ 
assumed  the  government  and  became  the  founder  of  the  Chou  dy- 
nasty which  reigned  from  1122  until  225  B.  C. 

Wen  Wang  was  a  man  of  earnest  moral  intentions,  but  with 
a  hankering  after  occultism.  During  his  imprisonment  he  occupied 
himself  in  his  enforced  leisure  with  the  symbols  of  the  yih,  and 
found  much  comfort  in  the  divinations  which  he  believed  to  dis- 
cover in  them.     When  he  saw  better  days  he  considered  that  the 


'Wu  Wang  was  born  1169  B.  C;  he  became  emperor  in  1122  B.  C.  and 
died  1116  B.  C. 


CHINESE   OCCULTISM.  3I 

prophecies  were  fulfilled,  and  his  faith  in  their  occult  meaning  be- 
came more  and  more  firmly  established,'^ 

The  eight  permutations  of  the  trigrams  apparently  form  the 
oldest  part  of  the  Yih  King.  They  have  been  an  object  of  contem- 
plation since  time  immemorial  and  their  significance  is  set  forth  in 
various  ways.  The  trigrams  consisting  of  three  yang  lines  are 
called  the  unalloyed  yang,  and  of  three  yin  lines,  the  unalloyed  yin. 
In  the  mixed  groups  the  place  of  honor  is  at  the  bottom,  and  if  they 
are  conceived  as   family  relations,  the  unalloyed  yang  represents 

N. 


^y  N> 


w.^ 


T 
ill 


s. 

ARRANGEMENT  OF  TRIGRAMS  ACCORDING  TO   FUH-HI. 

the  father  and  the  unalloyed  yin,  the  mother.  The  three  sons  are 
represented  by  the  trigrams  containing  only  one  yang;  the  eldest 
son  having  yang  in  the  lowest  place,  the  second  in  the  middle,  and 
the  third  on  top.  The  corresponding  trigrams  with  only  one  yin 
line  represent  in  the  same  way  the  three  daughters. 

The  trigrams  are  also  arranged  both  by  Fuh-Hi  and  Wen  Wang 
in  the  form  of  a  mariner's  compass.    In  the  system  of  Fuh-Hi  the 

'  Mayers,  Chinese  Reader's  Manual,  p.  177. 


32  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

unalloyed  yin  stands  at  the  north,  the  unalloyed  yang  at  the  south. 
The  others  are  so  arranged  that  those  which  correspond  to  i,  2,  3, 
of  Leibnitz'  Binary  System  proceed  from  north  through  west  to 
south  in  regular  order,  while  4,  5,  6,  start  from  south  taking  the 
corresponding  places  in  the  east.  In  this  mathematical  arrange- 
ment we  always  have  the  opposed  configurations  in  opposite  quarters, 
so  as  to  have  for  each  place  in  every  opposite  kwa  a  yang  line  cor- 
respond with  a  yin  line  and  vice  versa;  while  if  they  are  expressed 


^.  Winter  A^ 


^'-^ 


^  Summer  ^* 


S. 

ARRANGEMENT  OF  TRIGRAMS  ACCORDING  TO  WEN   WANG. 

in  numbers  of  the  binary  system,  their  sums  are  always  equal  to 
seven. 

Wen  Wang  rearranged  the  trigrams  and  abandoned  entirely 
the  mathematical  order  attributed  to  Fuh-Hi.  The  following  quo- 
tation from  the  Yih  King  evinces  the  occultism  which  influenced 
his  thoughts: 

"All  things  endowed  with  life  have  their  origin  in  chan,  as  chan  corre- 
sponds to  the  east.  They  are  in  harmonious  existence  in  siuen  because  siuen 
corresponds  to  the  southeast.    Li  is  brightness  and  renders  all  things  visible 


CHINESE   OCCULTISM.  33 

to  one  another,  being  the  kwa  which  represents  the  south.  Kw'un  is  the  earth 
from  which  all  things  endowed  with  life  receive  food.  Tui  corresponds  to 
mid-autumn.  Ch'ien  is  the  kwa  of  the  northwest.  K'an  is  water,  the  kwa  of 
of  the  exact  north  representing  distress,  and  unto  it  everything  endowed  with 
life  reverts.  Kan  is  the  kwa  of  the  northeast  where  living  things  both  rise 
and  terminate." 

Since  this  new  arrangement  is  absolutely  dependent  on  occult 
considerations,  the  grouping  must  appear  quite  arbitrary  from  the 
standpoint  of  pure  mathematics.  It  is  natural  that  with  the  growth 
of  mysticism  this  arbitrariness  increases  and  the  original  system 
is  lost  sight  of. 

The  yin  and  yang  elements  are  supposed  to  be  the  product  of 
a  differentiation  from  the  fai  chih,  "the  grand  limit,"  i.  e.,  the  ab- 
solute or  ultimate  reality  of  all  existence,  which,  containing  both 
yang  and  yin  in  potential  efficiency,  existed  in  the  beginning.  The 
grand  limit  evolved  the  pure  yang  as  ether  or  air,  which  precipi- 
tated the  Milky  Way,  shaping  the  visible  heaven  or  firmament; 
while  the  yin  coagulated  and  sank  down  to  form  the  earth.  But  the 
earth  contained  enough  of  the  yang  to  produce  heat  and  life.  Some 
unalloyed  yang  particles  rose  to  form  the  sun,  while  correspondingly 
other  unalloyed  yin  particles  produced  the  moon,  the  two  great  lumi- 
naries, which  in  their  turn  begot  the  fixed  stars. 

THE  TABLET  OF  DESTINY. 

At  the  beginning  of  Chinese  history  stands  a  tablet  which  in 
some  mysterious  way  is  supposed  to  be  connected  with  an  explana- 
tion of  the  universe.  It  has  been  reconstructed  by  later  Chinese 
thinkers  and  is  pictured  in  the  hands  of  Fuh-Hi  as  an  arrangement 
of  the  kwa  figures  preserved  in  the  Yih  King.  Considering  the 
several  traces  of  Babylonian  traditions  in  ancient  Chinese  literature 
and  folklore^  would  it  not  be  justifiable  to  identify  the  tablet  of 
Fuh-Hi  with  the  ancient  Babylonian  "Tablet  of  Destiny"  mentioned 
in  the  Enmeduranki  Text,  a  copy  of  which  was  discovered  in  the 
archives  of  AsurbanipaP^  and  was  said  to  contain  the  "Mystery 
of  Heaven  and  Earth?" 

*K2486  and  K4364;  cf.  Zimmern,  KAT'  533. 


^ 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


Enmeduranki,  king  of  Sippar,  is  the  seventh  of  the  aboriginal 
kings,  and  he  declares  that  he  received  the  divine  tablet  "from  Anu, 
[Bel,  and  Ea]."^^ 

Chinese  sages  have  their  own  interpretation  of  the  phrase  "the 
mystery  of  heaven  and  earth."  They  would  at  once  associate  the 
words  "heaven"  and  "earth"  with  the  two  opposing  principles  yang 
and  yin,  and  the  question  is  whether  among  the  ancient  Sumerians 
there  was  not  a  similar  tendency  prevalent.  It  seems  to  be  not  im- 
possible that  the  Chinese  tablet  in  the  hands  of  Fuh-Hi  is  the  same 
as  the  "Tablet  of  Destiny"  of  the  Sumerians,  and  when  some  Assy- 
riologist  has  informed  himself  of  the  primitive  Chinese  conception 
of  this  mysterious  tablet,  he  may  be  able  to  throw  some  additional 
light  on  the  subject. 

DIVINATION. 

An  explanation  of  the  universe  which  derives  all  distinctions 
between  things,  conditions,  relations,  etc.,  from  differences  of  mix- 
ture, must  have  appeared  very  plausible  to  the  ancient  sages  of 
China,  and  we  appreciate  their  acumen  when  we  consider  that  even 
to-day  advanced  Western  scientists  of  reputation  attempt  to  explain 
the  universe  as  a  congeries  of  force-centers,  acting  either  by  attrac- 
tion or  repulsion  in  analogy  to  positive  and  negative  electricity. 
On  the  ground  of  this  fact  the  educated  Chinese  insist  with  more 
than  a  mere  semblance  of  truth,  that  the  underlying  idea  of  the 
Chinese  world-conception  is  fully  borne  out  and  justified  by  the 
results  of  Western  science. 

While  it  is  obvious  that  the  leading  idea  of  the  yih  is  quite 
scientific,  we  observe  that  as  soon  as  the  Chinese  thinkers  tried  to 
apply  it  a  priori  without  a  proper  investigation  of  cause  and  effect, 
they  abandoned  more  and  more  the  abstract  (and  we  may  say,  the 
purely  mathematical)  conception  of  the  yang  and  yin,  fell  victims 
to  occultism,  and  used  the  yih  for  divination  purposes.  When  we 
compare  the  vagaries  of  the  occultism  of  the  yih  with  the  accom- 

"  Anu,  Bel,  and  Ea  are  the  Sumerian  trinity.  The  words  Bel  and  Ea  are 
illegible  on  the  tablet  and  have  been  restored  by  an  unequivocal  emendation. 
A  doubtful  word  of  the  tablet  has  been  translated  by  "omen"  which  pre- 
supposes that  the  translator  regards  the  tablet  as  a  means  of  divination. 


CHINESE   OCCULTISM.  35' 

plishments  of  Western  science,  we  may  feel  very  wise  and  superior, 
but  we  should  not  forget  that  it  was  the  same  fallacious  argument 
of  wrong  analogy  which  produced  in  China  the  many  superstitious 
practices  of  the  yih,  and  in  the  history  of  our  civilisation,  astrology, 
alchemy,  and  magic.  These  pseudo-sciences  were  taken  seriously 
in  the  world  of  thought  throughout  the  Middle  Ages  and  began  to 
be  abolished  only  after  the  Reformation  with  the  rise  of  genuine 
astronomy,  genuine  chemistry,  and  genuine  nature  science.     If  the 


A  DIVINATION  OUTFIT.  ^^ 

Chinese  are  wrong  we  must  remember  that  there  was  a  time  when 
we  made  the  same  mistake. 

The  Chinese  outfit  for  divination  consists  of  fifty  stalks  called 
"divining-sticks"  and  six  small  oblong  blocks  to  represent  the  hexa- 
grams. These  blocks  are  not  unlike  children's  building-blocks,  but 
they  bear  on  two  adjoining  sides  incisions  dividing  the  oblong  faces 
into  equal  sections,  so  as  to  give  the  surface  the  appearance  of  a 
yin  figure.  The  sticks  are  made  of  stalks  of  the  milfoil  plant  {ptar- 
mica  sihirica)  which  is  cultivated  on  the  tomb  of  Confucius  and  re- 
garded as  sacred. 


36  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

Pious  people  consult  the  oracle  on  all  important  occasions.  They 
are  first  careful  to  make  themselves  clean,  and  then  assume  a  calm 
and  reverential  attitude  of  mind.  The  diviner  then  takes  out  one 
stick  and  places  it  in  a  holder  on  the  center  of  the  table.  This  single 
stalk  is  called  "the  grand  limit"  (fai  chih),  the  ultimate  cause  of 
existence.  He  next  lifts  the  forty-nine  remaining  sticks  above  his 
forehead  with  his  right  hand,  and  divides  them  at  random  into  two 
parts,  at  the  same  time  holding  his  breath  and  concentrating  his 
thoughts  on  the  question  to  be  answered.  The  sticks  in  the  right 
hand  are  then  placed  on  the  table,  and  one  is  taken  out  from  them 
and  placed  between  the  fourth  and  fifth  fingers  of  the  left  hand. 
The  three  groups  are  now  called  heaven,  earth  and  man.  The  left- 
hand  group  is  then  counted  with  the  right  hand  in  cycles  of  eight, 
and  the  number  of  the  last  group  yields  the  lower  trigram  of  the 
answer,  called  the  inner  complement.  This  number  is  counted  after 
the  oldest  order  of  the  eight  trigrams,  viz.,  that  of  Fuh-Hi  corre- 
sponding to  the  inverted  binary  arrangement.  The  upper  trigram, 
called  the  outer  complement,  is  determined  in  the  same  way. 

After  the  hexagram  is  determined,  one  special  line  is  selected 
by  the  aid  of  the  divining-sticks  in  the  same  way  as  before,  except 
that  instead  of  counting  in  cycles  of  eight,  the  diviner  now  counts 
in  cycles  of  six.  Having  thus  established  the  hexagram  and  a 
special  line  in  it,  he  next  consults  the  Yih  King  which  contains  a 
definite  meaning  for  each  hexagram  as  a  whole,  and  also  for  each 
single  line ;  and  this  meaning  is  made  the  basis  of  the  divine  answer. 

It  is  obvious  that  this  complicated  process  presupposes  a  sim- 
pler one  which,  however,  must  have  been  in  use  in  pre-historic  times, 
for  as  far  as  Chinese  history  dates  back  the  divining  stalks  and  the 
kwa  system  are  referred  to  in  the  oldest  documents. 

URIM  AND  THUMMIM. 

The  Chinese  method  of  divination  may  help  us  to  understand 
the  Urim  and  Thummim  of  the  Hebrews  which  are  so  ancient  that 
details  of  their  method  are  practically  forgotten. 

We  notice  first  that  the  Urim  and  Thummim  are  two  sets  of 
symbols  apparently  forming  a  contrast  similar  to  that  of  yin  and 


CHINESE  OCCULTISM.  37 

yang.  It  is  not  probable  that  they  were  a  set  of  twelve  gems  repre- 
senting the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel.  Secondly,  like  the  yin  and  yang, 
the  two  sets  must  have  been  a  plurality  of  elements  and  not  only 
two  symbols  as  is  sometimes  assumed ;  and  thirdly,  they  served  the 
purpose  of  divination,  for  they  are  referred  to  in  connection  with 
the  ephod  which  must  have  had  something  to  do  with  the  determin- 
ing oracle. 

The  Urim  and  Thummim*  are  translated  in  the  Septuagintf 
by  "manifestation  and  truth,"  or,  as  it  has  been  rendered  in  Eng- 
lish, "light  and  perfection."  It  appears  that  the  vowel  in  the  first 
word  is  wrong,  and  we  ought  to  read  Orim,  which  is  the  plural 
form  of  Or,  "light,"  and  might  be  translated  by  "the  shining  things." 
If  Thummim  is  to  be  derived  from  the  root  THAMAM,  its  vocali- 
sation ought  to  be  thamim  (not  thummim)  and  would  mean  "the 
completed  things." 

We  cannot  doubt  that  the  Urim  and  Thummim  form  a  con- 
trast, and  if  the  Urim  represent  "light"  or  yang,  the  Thummim 
would  represent  "darkness"  or  yin,  the  former  being  compared  to 
the  rise  of  the  sun,  the  latter  to  the  consummation  of  the  day. 

Sometimes  the  answer  of  the  Urim  and  Thummim  is  between 
two  alternatives  (as  in  i  Sam.  xiv.  36  ff),  some  times  a  definite  reply 
is  given  which  would  presuppose  a  more  or  less  complicated  system 
similar  to  the  answers  recorded  in  the  Yih  King.  In  the  history 
of  Saul  (i  Sam.  X.  22)  the  answer  comes  out,  "Behold,  he  hath  hid 
himself  among  the  stuff,"  and  in  the  time  of  the  Judges  (Judges 
XX.  28)  the  question  is  asked  about  the  advisability  of  a  raid 
against  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  and  the  oracle  declares,  "Go  up ;  for 
to-morrow  I  will  deliver  them  into  thine  hand."  On  other  occa- 
sions the  oracle  does  not  answer  at  all,t  and  its  silence  is  interpreted 
as  due  to  the  wrath  of  God. 

The  answer  received  by  consulting  the  Urim  and  Thummim 
was  regarded  as  the  decision  of  God,  and  was  actually  called  the 
voice  of  God.  This  view  seems  to  have  led  in  later  times,  when 
the  process  of  divination  was  no  longer  understood,  to  the  assump- 


*?-(•> 


X  See  Sam.  xiv.  yj  and  xxviii.  6. 


38  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

tion  that  Yahveh's  voice  could  be  heard  in  the  Holy  of  Holies,  a 
misinterpretation  which  is  plainly  recognisable  in  the  story  of  the 
high  priest  Eleazar  (Num.  vii.  89). 

The  Urim  and  Thummim  are  frequently  mentioned  in  close  con- 
nection with  the  ephod  which  has  been  the  subject  of  much  dis- 
cussion. It  is  commonly  assumed  that  the  word  is  used  in  two 
senses,  first  as  an  article  of  apparel  and  secondly  as  a  receptacle 
for  Urim  and  Thummim.  Unless  we  can  find  an  interpretation 
which  shows  a  connection  between  the  two,  we  can  be  sure  not  to 
have  rightly  understood  the  original  significance  of  this  mysterious 
article.  The  description  of  the  ephod  in  Exodus  ii.  28,  (an  unques- 
tionably postexilic  passage)  is  irreconcilable  with  the  appearance, 
use  or  function  which  this  curious  object  must  have  possessed  ac- 
cording to  our  historical  sources,  and  the  latter  alone  can  be  re- 
garded as  reliable.  After  considering  all  the  passages  in  which  the 
ephod  is  mentioned  we  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  a 
pouch  worn  by  the  diviner  who  hung  it  around  his  loins  using  the 
string  as  a  girdle. 

The  original  meaning  of  ephod  is  "girdle"  and  the  verb  aphad 
means  "to  put  on,  to  gird."  David,  a  strong  believer  in  the  Urim 
and  Thummim,  danced  before  the  Lord  "girded  with  an  ephod," 
and  we  must  assume  that  according  to  the  primitive  fashion  the 
diviner  was  otherwise  naked.  Hence  he  incurred  the  contempt  of 
his  wife  Michal  whose  piety  did  not  go  so  far  as  the  king's  in  wor- 
shiping Yahveh  in  this  antiquated  manner. 

The  main  significance  of  the  ephod  in  connection  with  the  Urim 
and  Thummim  was  to  serve  as  a  receptacle  for  the  lots,  and  so  it 
may  very  well  have  become  customary  to  make  it  of  a  more  costly 
and  enduring  material  in  the  form  of  a  vase.  This  will  explain 
those  passages  in  which  the  ephod  is  spoken  of  as  being  made  of 
gold  and  standing  on  the  altar,  as  where  we  are  informed  that  the 
sword  of  Goliath  had  been  deposited  as  a  trophy  wrapped  in  a 
mantle  "behind  the  ephod." 

There  are  other  passages  in  which  "ephod"  seems  to  be  iden- 
tical with  an  idol,  but  if  our  interpretation  be  accepted  there  is  no 


CHINESE   OCCULTISM. 


39 


difficulty  in  this,  for  the  receptacle  of  the  Urim  and  Thummim  may 
very  well  have  come  to  be  regarded  as  an  object  of  worship. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  whether  the  ephod  is  identical  with  the 
khoshen,  the  breastplate  of  the  high  priest,  which  in  later  postexilic 
usage  was  ornamented  with  twelve  precious  stones  representing  the 
twelve  tribes  of  Israel.  It  is  sure,  however,  that  the  Urim  and 
Thummim  cannot  be  identified  with  the  twelve  jewels,  and  the 
Hebrew  words  plainly  indicate  that  they  were  placed  inside  as  into 
a  pouch.  In  Lev.  xiii.  8  the  verb  nathan  el,  "to  put  into,"  is  used 
and  not  ncthan  'al,  "to  put  upon." 

The  breastplate  of  the  high  priest  seems  to  be  the  same  as 
what  is  called  in  Babylonian  history  the  "tables  of  judgment,"  which 
also  were  worn  on  the  breast.  But  the  identification  does  not  seem 
convincing.  We  would  have  to  assume  that  the  ephod  was  first 
worn  around  the  loins  after  the  fashion  of  a  loin  cloth  and  that  later 
in  a  more  civilised  age  when  the  priests  were  dressed  in  sacerdotal 
robes,  it  was  suspended  from  the  shoulders  and  hung  upon  the 
breast. 

After  Solomon's  time  there  is  no  longer  any  historical  record  of 
the  use  of  the  Urim  and  Thummim.  It  seems  certain  that  in  the 
post-exilic  age  the  rabbis  knew  no  more  about  it  than  we  do  to-day 
and  regretted  the  loss  of  this  special  evidence  of  grace.  They  sup- 
posed their  high  priests  must  be  no  longer  fit  to  consult  the  oracle 
(Esdras  ii.  63;  Neh.  vii.  65)  and  Josephus  states  (Antiq.  iii.  8-9) 
that  two  hundred  years  before  his  time,  it  had  ceased.  According 
to  common  tradition,  however,  it  was  never  reintroduced  into  the 
temple  service  after  the  exile. 

While  Josephus  identified  the  Urim  and  Thummim  with  the 
twelve  jewels  in  the  breastplate  of  the  high  priest,  Philo*  claims 
that  they  were  pictures  exhibited  in  the  embroidery  of  the  breast- 
plate representing  the  symbols  of  light  and  truth.  His  conception 
is  untenable,  but  it  is  noteworthy  because  his  view  seems  to  be  in- 
fluenced by  his  knowledge  of  the  sacerdotal  vestments  of  Egypt. 
We  are  told  that  the  high  priert  in  his  capacity  as  judge  used  to 
wear  a  breastplate  bearing  the  image  of  truth  or  justice.    One  such 

*  De  vita  Mosis,  p.  670  C;  671,  D.  E. ;  De  Monarchia,  p.  824,  A. 


40  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

shield  has  been  found,  upon  which  were  two  figures  recognisable 
by  the  emblems  on  their  heads:  one  with  a  solar  disk  as  Ra,  the 
sun-god  or  light,  the  other  with  a  feather,  as  Maat  or  truth.  If  the 
Urim  and  Thummim  were  not  plural  and  were  not  contrasts,  and  if 
we  did  not  know  too  well  that  they  were  placed  in  an  ephod,  Philo's 
interpretation  would  have  much  to  recommend  itself.  Perhaps  he 
and  also  the  Septuagint  were  under  Egyptian  influence. 

While  we  do  not  believe  that  the  Urim  and  Thummim  were 
exactly  like  the  yang  and  yin  we  are  fully  convinced  that  the  Chinese 
method  of  divination  throws  some  light  upon  the  analogous  Hebrew 
practice  and  will  help  us  to  understand  the  meaning  of  the  terms. 
If  the  two  systems  are  historically  connected,  which  is  not  quite 
impossible,  we  must  assume  that  they  were  differentiated  while  yet 
in  their  most  primitive  forms. 

P'AN-KU. 

The  basic  idea  of  the  yih  philosophy  was  so  convincing  that  it  al- 
most obliterated  the  Taoist  cosmogony  of  P'an-Ku  who  is  said  to  have 
chiseled  the  world  out  of  the  rocks  of  eternity.  Though  the  legend  is 
not  held  in  high  honor  by  the  literati,  it  contains  some  features  of 
interest  which  have  not  as  yet  been  pointed  out  and  deserve  at  least 
an  incidental  comment. 

P'an-Ku  is  written  in  two  ways:  one®  means  in  literal  trans- 
lations, *'basin  ancient,"  the  other  "basin  solid."®  Both  are  homo- 
phones, i.  e.,  they  are  pronounced  the  same  way ;  and  the  former  may 
be  preferred  as  the  original  and  correct  spelling.  Obviously  the 
name  means  "aboriginal  abyss,"  or  in  the  terser  German,  Urgrund, 
and  we  have  reason  to  believe  it  to  be  a  translation  of  the  Babylonian 
Tiamat,  "the  Deep." 

The  Chinese  legend  tells  us  that  P*an-Ku's  bones  changed  to 
rocks ;  his  flesh  to  earth ;  his  marrow,  teeth  and  nails  to  metals ;  his 
hair  to  herbs  and  trees ;  his  veins  to  rivers ;  his  breath  to  wind ;  and 
his  four  limbs  became  pillars  marking  the  four  corners  of  the  world, 
■ — which  is  a  Chinese  version  not  only  of  the  Norse  myth  of  the 
Giant  Ymir,  but  also  of  the  Babylonian  story  of  Tiamat. 


CHINESE   OCCULTISM.  {^^ 

Illustrations  of  P'an-Ku  represent  him  in  the  company  of  super- 
natural animals  that  symbolise  old  age  or  immortality,  viz.,  the 
tortoise  and  the  crane;  sometimes  also  the  dragon,  the  emblem  of 
power,  and  the  phenix,  the  emblem  of  bliss. 

When  the  earth  had  thus  been  shaped  from  the  body  of  P'an- 
Ku,  we  are  told  that  three  great  rulers  successively  governed  the 
world :  first  the  celestial,  then  the  terrestrial,  and  finally  the  human 
sovereign.  They  were  followed  by  Yung-Ch'eng  and  Sui-Jen  (i.  e., 
fire-man)  the  latter  being  the  Chinese  Prometheus,  who  brought  the 
fire  down  from  heaven  and  taught  man  its  various  uses. 

The  Prometheus  myth  is  not  indigenous  to  Greece,  where  it 
received  the  artistically  classical  form  under  which  it  is  best  known 
to  us.  The  name,  which  by  an  ingenious  afterthought  is  explained 
as  "the  fore  thinker,"  is  originally  the  Sanskrit  pramantha^^  and 
means  "twirler"  or  "fire-stick,"  being  the  rod  of  hard  wood  which 
produced  fire  by  rapid  rotation  in  a  piece  of  soft  wood. 

We  cannot  deny  that  the  myth  must  have  been  known  also  in 
Mesopotamia,  the  main  center  of  civilisation  between  India  and 
Greece,  and  it  becomes  probable  that  the  figure  Sui-Jen  has  been 
derived  from  the  same  prototype  as  the  Greek  Prometheus. 

THE  FIVE  ELEMENTS. 

Occultism  dominated  the  development  of  thought  during  the 
Middle  Ages  of  China  not  less  than  in  Europe,  and  here  again  in 
the  conception  of  the  elements  we  find  traces  of  a  common  origin 
in  both  the  East  and  West. 

The  Chinese  speak  of  five  elements:  water,  fire,  wood,  metal, 
and  earth ;  while,  according  to  the  ancient  sages  of  Hellas  and  India, 
there  are  but  four :  water,  fire,  earth,  and  air.    This  latter  view  also 

"  See  Steinthal's  "The  original  Form  of  the  Legend  of  Prometheus" 
which  forms  and  appendix  to  Goldziher's  Mythology  Among  the  Hebrews, 
translated  by  Russell  Martineau,  London.    1877. 

Mantha  is  derived  from  the  same  root  as  the  German  word  mangeln,  "to 
torture,"  and  one  who  forces  (viz.  Agni,  the  god  of  fire)  is  called  prama- 
thyu-s  "the  fire-robber."  The  Sanskrit  name  in  its  Greek  form  is  Prometheus, 
whose  nature  of  fire-god  is  still  recognisable  in  the  legend. 


42 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


(although  in  a  later  age)  has  migrated  to  China,  where  it  is  com- 
monly accepted  among  the  Buddhists,  but  has  been  modified  in  so 
far  as  ether  has  been  superadded  so  as  to  make  the  elements  of  the 
Buddhist-Chinese  conception  equal  in  number  to  the  older  enumera- 
tion which  we  may  call  the  Taoist  view. 


CHINESE.  EUROPEAN.  STUPA  FORM,         MEMORIAL  POLE. 

DIFFERENT  REPRESENTATIONS  OF  THE  ELEMENTS. 

[The  proportions  of  the  several  heights  are  deemed  important,  and  are  as 
follows:  the  square,  lo;  the  circle,  9;  the  triangle,  7;  the  crescent,  2;  the  gem, 
6.  When  built  in  the  form  of  a  stupa,  the  square  changes  into  a  cube,  the  circle 
into  a  globe,  the  triangle  into  a  four-sided  pyramid,  and  the  crescent  and  gem 
also  into  solid  bodies.  The  globe  retains  its  proper  dimensions  but  is,  as  it 
were,  pressed  into  the  cube  and  the  pyramid;  the  pyramid  is  frequently 
changed  into  an  artistically  carved  roof.  The  Mediaeval  European  conception 
is  obviously  not  original.] 


That  the  Buddhist  conception  of  the  five  elements  has  been  im- 
^ported  to  China  from  India,  is  proved  beyond  question  by  the  fact 


CHINESE  OCCULTISM. 


43 


TIBETAN   STUPA. 

[This  illustration  is  reproduced  from  The  East  of  Asia,  (June 
1905),  an  illustrated  magazine  printed  in  Shanghai,  China. 

The  monument  represents  the  five  elements,  but  its  shape  is  no 
longer  exact.  The  upper  part  of  the  cube  shows  a  formation  of  steps, 
not  unlike  the  Babylonian  zikkurat  or  staged  tower.  The  globe  is  no 
longer  a  true  sphere,  and  the  pyramid  has  been  changed  into  a  pointed 
cone,  so  slender  as  to  be  almost  a  pole.  The  monument  is  probably 
used  as  a  mausoleum.] 


44 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


that  the  Chinese  diagrams  are  frequently  marked  with  their  San- 
skrit terms.  It  is  strange  that  the  symboHc  diagrams  are  more 
nearly  identical  than  their  interpretations.  Earth  is  represented 
by  a  square,  water  by  a  sphere,  fire  by  a  triangle,  air  by  a  crescent, 


GATEWAY  TO  BUDDHIST   MONASTERY^  PEKIN. 

A  further  development  of  the  Stupa  of  the  five  elements. 

[The  cube  has  been  changed  into  a  roofed  house;  the  sphere  has 
assumed  the  shape  of  a  Chinese  cap,  the  pyramid  is  adorned  with  a 
peculiar  ornament  imitative  of  a  cover,  and  the  crescent  has  been 
changed  into  a  flower-like  knob,  as  has  also  the  gem  which  surmounts 
the  whole.] 


CHINESE   OCCULTISM.  45 

and  ether  by  a  gem  surmounting  the  whole.  The  two  upper  symbols 
are  conceived  as  one  in  the  treatises  of  the  mediaeval  alchemy  of 
Europe,  and  serve  there  as  the  common  symbol  of  air.  The  symbol 
ether  is  commonly  called  by  its  Sanskrit  term  mani,  which  literally 
means  "gem,"  and  in  popular  imagination  is  endowed  with  magic 
power. 

The  five  elements  are  also  represented  by  memorial  poles  which 
on  the  Chinese  All  Souls'  Day  are  erected  at  the  tombs  of  the  dead, 
on  which  occasion  the  grave  is  ornamented  with  lanterns,  and  a 
torch  is  lit  at  evening. 

All  over  the  interior  of  Asia  so  far  as  it  is  dominated  by  Chi- 
nese civilisation,  we  find  stupas  built  in  the  shape  of  the  symbols 
of  the  five  elements,  and  their  meaning  is  interpreted  in  the  sense 
that  the  body  of  the  dead  has  been  reduced  to  its  original  elements. 
We  must  not,  however,  interpret  this  idea  in  a  materialistic  sense, 
for  it  is  meant  to  denote  an  absorption  into  the  All  and  a  return 
to  the  origin  and  source  of  life. 

It  is  noticeable  that  this  reverence  of  the  elements  as  divine  is 
a  well-known  feature  of  ancient  Mazdaism,  the  faith  of  the  Persians, 
and  is  frequently  alluded  to  by  Herodotus  in  his  description  of 
Persian  customs.  The  desire  not  to  desecrate  the  elements  causes 
the  Persians  to  regard  burial  and  cremation  as  offensive.  They 
deposit  their  dead  in  the  Tower  of  Silence,  leaving  them  there  to 
the  vultures,  whereby  the  pollution  by  the  corpse  either  of  earth 
or  of  fire  is  avoided. 

The  Taoist  view  of  the  elements  is  different  from  the  Buddhist 
conception,  and  we  may  regard  it  as  originally  and  typically  Chi- 
nese. At  any  rate  it  is  full  of  occultism  and  constitutes  an  impor- 
tant chapter  in  the  mystic  lore  of  China.  According  to  this  view, 
the  five  elements  are  water,  fire,  wood,  metal,  and  earth.*  The  knowl- 
edge of  these  elements,  legend  tells  us,  is  somehow  connected  with 
the  marks  on  the  shell  of  the  sacred  tortoise  which,  having  risen  from 
the  river  Loh,  appeared  to  Ts'ang-Hieh  (Mayers,  Ch.  R.  M.,  I,  756). 
Tsou-Yen,  a  philosopher  who  lived  in  the  fourth  century  B.  C, 

*?K  A  ;1^  ^  ± 


46  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

wrote  a  treatise  on  cosmogony  in  which  the  five  elements  play  an 
important  part  (Mayers,  Ch.  R.  M.,  1,  746). 

The  five  elements  also  figure  prominently  in  "The  Great  Plan,"" 
which  is  an  ancient  imperial  manifesto  on  the  art  of  good  govern- 
ment. There  it  is  stated  that  like  everything  else  they  are  produced 
by  the  y?ng  and  yin,  being  the  natural  results  of  that  twofold  breath 
which  will  operate  favorably  or  unfavorably  upon  the  living  or  the 
dead  according  to  the  combination  in  which  they  are  mixed.  All 
misfortunes  are  said  to  arise  from  a  disturbance  of  the  five  elements 
in  a  given  situation,  and  thus  the  Chinese  are  very  careful  not  to 
interfere  with  nature  or  cause  any  disturbance  of  natural  conditions. 
We  are  told  in  "The  Great  Plan"^^  that  "in  olden  times  K'wan 
dammed  up  the  inundating  waters  and  so  disarranged  the  five  ele- 
ments. The  Emperor  of  Heaven  was  aroused  to  anger  and  would 
not  give  him  the  nine  divisions  of  the  Great  Plan.  In  this  way  the 
several  relations  of  society  were  disturbed,  and  [for  punishment] 
he  was  kept  in  prison  until  he  died."  K'wan's  misfortune  has  re- 
mained a  warning  example  to  the  Chinese.  In  their  anxiety  not  to 
disturb  the  proper  mixture  in  which  the  five  elements  should  be 
combined  they  pay  great  attention  to  those  pseudo-scientific  pro- 
fessors who  determine  the  prevalence  of  the  several  elements,  not 
by  studying  facts  but  by  interpreting  some  of  the  most  unessential 
features,  for  instance,  the  external  shape  of  rocks  and  plants.  Pointed 
crags  mean  "fire" ;  gently  rounded  mountains,  "metal" ;  cones  and 
sugar-loaf  rocks  represent  trees,  and  mean  "wood" ;  and  square 
plateaus  denote  "earth" ;  but  if  the  plateau  be  irregular  in  shape 
so  as  to  remind  one  of  the  outlines  of  a  lake,  it  stands  for  "water." 
It  would  lead  us  too  far  to  enter  into  further  details  ;  at  the  same  time 
it  would  be  difficult  to  lay  down  definite  rules,  as  there  is  much 
scope  left  to  the  play  of  the  imagination,  and  it  is  certain  that,  while 
doctors  may  disagree  in  the  Western  world,  the  geomancers  of 
China  have  still  more  opportunity  for  a  great  divergence  of  opinion. 

The  elements  are  supposed  to  conquer  one  another  according 

"A  chapter  in  the  Shu  King,  translated  into  English  by  James  Legge. 
S.  B.  E.,  vol.  Ill,  137. 

"  See  5".  B.  E„  III,  139. 


CHINESE   OCCULTISM. 


47 


to  a  definite  law.  We  are  told  that  wood  conquers  earth,  earth 
conquers  water,  water  conquers  fire,  fire  conquers  metal,  and  metal 
conquers  wood.  This  rule  which  is  preserved  by  Liu  An  of  the 
second  century  B.  C.  is  justified  by  Pan  Ku,  a  historian  of  the 
second  century  A.  D., compiler  of  the  books  of  the  era  of  the  Han 
dynasty,  as  follows: 

"By  wood  can  be  produced  fire,  by  fire  can  be  produced  earth  [in  other 
words,  wood  through  fire  is  changed  to  ashes]  ;  from  earth  can  be  produced 
metal  [i.  e.,  by  mining]  ;  from  metal  can  be  produced  water  [they  can  be 
changed  through  heat  to  a  liquid  state]  ;  from  water  can  be  produced  wood 
[plants].     When  fire  heats  metal,  it  makes  it  liquid  [i.  e.,  it  changes  it  into 

THE    FIVE    ELEMENTS    AND    THEIR    INTERRELATION. 


ELEMENTS 

PARENT 

CHILD 

ENEMY 

FRIEND 

PLANET 

water's 

metal 

wood 

earth 

fire 

Mercury 

fire's 

wood 

earth 

water 

metal 

Mars 

wood's 

water 

fire 

metal 

earth 

Jupiter 

metal's 

earth 

water 

fire 

wood 

Venus 

earth's 

fire 

metal 

wood 

water 

Saturn 

the  state  of  the  element  water].  When  water  destroys  fire  it  operates  ad- 
versely upon  the  very  element  by  which  it  is  produced.  Fire  produces  earth, 
yet  earth  counteracts  water.  No  one  can  do  anything  against  these  phenom- 
ena, for  the  power  which  causes  the  five  elements  to  counteract  each  other 
is  according  to  the  natural  dispensation  of  heaven  and  earth.  Large  quanti- 
ties prevail  over  small  quantities,  hence  water  conquers  fire.  Spirituality 
prevails  over  materiality,  the  non-substance  over  substance,  thus  fire  conquers 
metal;  hardness  conquers  softness,  hence  metal  conquers  wood;  density  is 
superior  to  incoherence,  therefore,  wood  conquers  earth ;  solidity  conquers 
insolidity,  therefore  earth  conquers  water." 

Besides  being  interrelated  as  parent  and  ofiFspring,  or  as  friend 
and  enemy,  the  five  elements  are  represented  by  the  five  planets,  so 
that  water  corresponds  to  Mercury,  fire  to  IVCars,  wood  to  Jupiter, 
metal  to  Venus,  and  earth  to  Saturn. 


48 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


The  yih  system  being  cosmic  in  its  nature,  has  been  used  by 
the  Chinese  sages  to  represent  the  universe.  The  first  attempt  in 
this  direction  is  Fuh-Hi's  diagram  in  compass  form  representing 
the  four  quarters  and  four  intermediary  directions. 

The  system  was  changed  by  Wen  Wang  who  rearranged  the 
eight  trigrams  but  retained  the  fundamental  idea.  It  was  supposed 
to  have  been  revealed  to  Fuh-Hi  on  the  back  of  a  tortoise,  but  later 
sages  superadded     to  the  fundamental  idea  further  characteristics 


THE  MYSTIC  TABLET.^^ 

of  the  universe,  according  to  their  more  complicated  knowledge  of 
science  and  occultism. 

We  reproduce  here  a  mystic  tablet  of  Tibetan  workmanship, 
which,  however,  reflects  the  notions  prevailing  over  the  whole  Chi- 
nese empire.  The  kwa  tablet  lies  on  the  back  of  the  tortoise,  pre- 
sumably the  same  as  was  supposed  to  have  been  present  when  P'an- 
Ku  chiseled  the  world   from  out  of  the  rocks  of  eternity  —  and 


"  The  table  has  been  reproduced  from  Waddell's  Buddhism  of  Tibet,  p. 
453.  Students  who  take  the  trouble  to  enter  into  further  details  are  warned 
that  in  Waddell's  table,  by  some  strange  mistake,  the  position  of  the  trigrams 
tui  and  chan,  in  the  east  and  in  the  west,  has  been  reversed,  a  mistake  which 
we  have  corrected  in  our  reproduction. 


CHINESE   OCCULTISM. 


49 


certainly  the  same  tortoise  which  made  its  appearance  in  the  Loh 
river  to  reveal  the  secret  of  the  kwa  to  Fuh-Hi. 

In  the  center  of  our  kwa  tablet  is  the  magic  square  written  in 
Tibetan  characters,  which  is  the  same  as  that  represented  in  dots 
in  the  so-called  "Writing  of  Loh."^*  It  is  also  depicted  as  resting 
in  its  turn  on  the  carapace  of  a  smaller  tortoise. 

This  magic  square  is  surrounded  by  the  twelve  animals  of  the 
duodenary  cycle,  representing  both  the  twelve  double-hours  of  the 
day,  and  the  twelve  months  of  the  year.  In  the  left  lower  center 
is  represented  the  rat  which,  in  passing  around  to  the  left,  is  followed 
in  order  by  the  ox,  tiger,  hare,  dragon,  serpent,  horse,  goat,  monkey, 


A  TYPICAL  CHINESE  GRAVE. 

[The  dead  are  protected  against  the  evil  influence  of  unfavorably 
mixed  elements  in  the  surroundings  of  the  grave  by  a  horseshoe-shaped 

wall.    Cf.  pp.  56-57-] 

cock,  dog,  and  boar.  The  symbols  of  the  days  are :  a  sun  for  Sunday, 
a  crescent  for  Monday;  a  red  eye  for  Tuesday  (red  light  of  the 
planet  Mars)  ;  a  hand  holding  a  coin  for  Wednesday  (indicating 
the  function  of  the  god  Mercury);  a  .  thunderbolt  for  Thursday 
(sacred  to  Marduk,  Jupiter,  Thor,  the  thunder-god)  ;  a  buckle  for 
Friday  (day  of  Frigga  or  Venus)  ;  and  a  bundle  for  Saturday. 

The  duodenary  cycle  of  animals  is  surrounded  by  various  em- 
blems indicating  lucky  and  unlucky  days.  Among  these  we  can 
discover  gems,  buckles,  thunderbolts,  various  limbs  of  the  body, 
triangles,  five-spots,  links  of  a  chain,  luck  symbols,  and  swastikas. 


"  See  the  author's  pamphlet,  Chinese  Philosophy,  p.  19. 


50  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

-They  surround  the  eight  trigrams  which  are  placed  according  to 
the  arrangement  of  Wen  Wang.  The  kwa  in  the  lower  part  repre- 
sents north  and  winter;  in  the  upper  part,  the  south  and  summer; 
toward  the  right,  west  and  autumn;  and  toward  the  left,  east  and 
spring.  The  kwa  in  the  lower  right  hand  corner  represents  heaven ; 
in  the  lower  left,  mountain;  the  upper  left,  air  or  wind;  and  in  the 
right  upper  corner,  earth. 


SYSTEMS  OF  ENUMERATION. 

The  twelve  animals  which  are  pictured  on  our  Tibetan  tablet 
are  a  curious  relic  of  prehistoric  civilisation.  They  represent  at  once 
the  twelve  months,  the  twelve  divisions  of  the  zodiac,  and  the  twelve 
double  hours  of  the  day.  Kindred  systems  of  designating  duodeci- 
mal divisions  of  the  cosmos,  both  in  time  and  space,  by  a  cycle  of 
animals  can  be  traced  in  Babylon,  Egypt,  primitive  America,  and 
modern  Europe,  where  to  the  present  day  the  constellations  along 
the  ecliptic  are  divided  into  twelve  groups,  called  the  Zodiac,  or 
ThierkreiSj  i.  e.,  the  animal  cycle. 

The  duodenary  cycle  is  an  ancient  method  of  counting,  ex- 
pressed by  animal  names,  a  custom  which  has  only  been  abolished 
in  Japan  since  the  Great  Reform  under  the  influence  of  Western 
civilisation.  Up  to  tliat  time  people  spoke  there  of  "the  rat  hour," 
"the  ox  hour,"  "the  tiger  hour,"  etc.,  and  these  terms  had  no  other 
significance  than  in  Western  countries,  one  o'clock,  two  o'clock,  or 
three  o'clock. 

The  twelve  animals  are  affiliated  with  the  twelve  branches,  so- 
called,  which  practically  possess  the  same  significance,  being  also 
a  duodenary  cycle.  The  twelve  branches  may  be  summarily  charac- 
terised as  the  twelve  months,  beginning  with  the  eleventh  in  which 
the  yang  principle  begins  to  prepare  for  its  appearance  in  the  new 
year,  and  ending  in  the  tenth  month  of  the  ensuing  year.  The  twelve 
branches  are  correlated  not  only  to  the  twelve  animals,  but  also  to 
the  five  elements  as  indicated  in  our  diagram.  The  fifth  element 
"earth"  is  missing  because  it  represents  the  center  around  which  the 
twelve  branches  are  grouped. 


CHINESE  OCCULTISM. 


51 


0 
<! 

rat 

ox 

tiger 

hare 

dragon 

serpent 

horse 

goat 

monkey 

cock 
dog 
boar 

Si^^l^|S^ffl|:fr^i 

t4<^ 

CO 

0 

m 
> 

1 

^  y  w 

sis 

>  water 
Vwood 

Vfire 

>  metal 
water 

Yang  stirring  underground 

Hand  half-opened 

Wriggling  earthworm 

Opening  a  gate 

Thunderstorm 

Snake 

Female  principle  in  hidden  growth 

Tree  in  full  bloom 

Clasped  hands 

Cider  or  wine-press 

Yang  withdrawing  undergfround 

Yang  in  touch  with  Yin 

>> 
fi 
< 

u 
a 
0 
p 
a 
w 

0 

<! 
a 

b 

C 
CO 

Regeneration  of  vegetation 

Relaxation;  untying  a  knot 

Awakening  of  life. 

Plants  breaking  through  the  soil 

First  vegetation;  seed-time 

Supremacy  of  Yang 

Yin  reasserting  itself 

Taste  of  fruit 

Yin  growing  strong 

Completion 
Exhaustion 
Kernel  or  root 

0 
< 

iJ 

.<! 
P 
to 
P 

child 

cord 

to  revere 

a  period  of  time 

vibration 

end 

to  oppose 

not  yet 

to  expand 

ripe 

guard 

[Kernel]* 

tze 

chu 

yin 

mao 

chen 

ssu 

wu 

wei 

shen 

3         ^          rt 

H 

S 

1 

PhFJ^iffi;^l^a3^4K-i-®'^i?!S 

6 

rHM«'«l'«O«5t^00» 

^      :i      ^ 

0  o 


*  -r 
to 

o 


52 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


There  is  another  system  of  counting,  which  however  is  decimal, 
and  is  called  "the  ten  stems" ;  and  it  appears  that  it  is  simply  an 
older  method  of  counting  the  months  of  the  year.  In  their  original 
here  also  the  explanation  of  the  several  symbols  has  reference  to 
the  progress  of  the  year. 

It  is  not  impossible  that  the  decimal  system  was  the  original  and 
indigenous  Chinese  method  of  counting,  while  the  duodecimal  system 

THE  TEN   STEMS. 


NO. 

NAME 

1 

¥ 

2 

Z. 

3 

M 

4 

T 

S 

ric 

6 

G 

7 

^ 

8 

^ 

9 

i 

10 

^ 

TRANSCRIP- 
TION 


chia 

yi 

ping 

ting 

wu 

ki 

keng 

sin 

jen 

kwei 


SIGNIFICANCE 


Yang   moving  in  the  East 
sprouting. 

Plant  growing  in  a  crooked 
way;  tendril;  twig. 

Growth    in   southern    heat; 
bloom. 

Vegetation  in  warm  season; 
summer. 

Exuberance;     surcease     of 
life. 

Wintry  sleep;  hibernation. 

Fullness  of  crops;  the  West; 
autumn  fruit. 

Ripened  fruit  and  its  flavor; 
supposed  to  be  metallic. 

Yin    at    the    height    of    its 
function;   pregnancy. 

Water    absorbed  by   earth; 
Yang  preparing  for  spring. 


ELEMENT  TO  WHICH 
RELATED 


fir  tree 

bamboo 
torch-flame 

lamp-light 
mountains 

level  ground 
weapon 

cauldron 
billow 


unruffled 
stream 


wood 


fire 


earth 


metal 


water 


was  imported  at  a  very  early  date  from  Accad  or  Sumer,  the  country 
of  the  founders  of  Babylonian  civilisation. 

The  existence  of  these  two  systems  suggests  the  occurrence  of 
a  calendar  reform  such  as  was  introduced  in  Rome  under  Numa 
Pompilius,  and  we  are  confronted  with  the  strange  coincidence  that 
in  China  as  well  as  in  Rome  the  two  additional  months  (January 


CHINESE   OCCULTISM.  53 

and  February)  were  inserted  at  the  beginning  as  a  result  of  which 
we  call  even  to-day  the  last  month  of  the  year  December,  i.  e.,  "the 
tenth."  We  must  leave  the  question  as  to  the  plausibility  of  a  his- 
torical connection  to  specialists  familiar  with  the  influence  of  Baby- 
lonian thought  on  the  rest  of  the  world.  It  is  not  impossible  that 
a  Babylonian  (perhaps  Sumerian)  calendar  reform  traveled  in  both 
directions,  rapidly  toward  the  more  civilised  East,  and  very  slowly 
toward  the  West,  producing  in  these  remote  countries  and  at  differ- 
ent times  this  startling  coincidence  of  a  similar  calendar  reform. 

We  might  parenthetically  state  that  the  original  meaning  of 
the  ten  stems  and  twelve  branches  has  practically  been  lost  sight  of, 
and  both  systems  have  become  simply  series  of  figures,  the  former 
from  one  to  ten,  the  latter  from  one  to  twelve ;  while  their  symbol- 
ical relations,  the  former  with  the  elements,  the  latter  with  the  twelve 
animals,  are  of  importance  merely  to  occultists. 

The  ten  stems  are  also  called  "the  ten  mothers,"  and  the  twelve 
branches,  "the  twelve  children."  That  the  former  is  the  older  ar- 
rangement appears  from  another  name  which  is  "the  ten  hoary 
characters. 

By  a  combination  of  the  ten  stems  with  the  twelve  branches  in 
groups  of  two  in  which  the  former  are  repeated  six  times  and  the 
latter  five  times,  a  series  of  sixty  is  produced  which  is  commonly 
called  by  sinologists  the  sexagenary  cycle,  and  is  used  for  naming 
years  as  well  as  days.  The  invention  of  the  sexagenary  cycle  and 
its  application  to  the  calendar  is  attributed  to  Nao  the  Great,  one 
of  the  prime  ministers  of  Hwang  Ti,  the  Yellow  Emperor,^^  who 
had  solicited  this  work  in  the  sixtieth  year  of  his  reign.  Nao  the 
Great,  having  accoinplished  the  task,  set  the  beginning  of  the  new- 
era  in  the  succeeding  year,  2637  B.  C.  Accordingly  we  live  now  in 
the  seventy-sixth  cycle  which  began  in  1863  and  will  end  in  1922. 

A  convenient  method  of  translating  the  properly  Chinese  names 
of  the  sexagenary  cycle  would  be  to  render  the  two  characters  by 
their  equivalent  relations  to  the  twelve  animals  and  the  five  elements, 


"According  to  traditional  chronology,  Hwang  Ti  reigned  from  2697  to 
2597  B.  C 


54 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


THE   SEXAGENARY   CYCLE. 


^^ 

1 

1864 

¥$ 

21 
chia  shin 

1884 

¥Ji 

41 
1904 

r.a 

2 

yich'ou 

1865 

z.m 

22 

yi  yu 
1885 

Z.fL 

42 

yi  ssu 

1905 

mn 

3 
pingyin 

Nfx 

23 
ping  shu 

n^ 

43 

ping  wu 
1906 

T^ 

4 

1867 

-r% 

24 
ting  hai 

1887 

T* 

44 

ting  wet 

1907 

^m 

5 
mou  chin 

1868 

/^^ 

25 

mou  tzu 

1888 

)%^ 

45 

mou  shin 

1908 

ee. 

6 
chi  ssu 

1869 

ea 

26 

chi  ch'ou 

1889 

£1 

46 

chiyu 

1909 

^^ 

7 

king  wu 

1870 

^n 

27 

king  yin 

1890 

t^ 

47 

kiftg  shu 

1910 

^^ 

8 

hsin  wei 

1871 

^n 

28 

hsin  mao 

1891 

¥K 

48 

hsin  hai 

1911 

i* 

9 
jin  shen 

1872 

ili 

29 

jin  shin 

1892 

5^ 

49 

jin  tzu 

1912 

^m 

10 

kweiyu 

1873 

^e 

30 
kwei  ssu 

1893 

^2 

50 

kwei  ch'ou 

1913 

^f^ 

11 
1874 

¥^ 

31 

chia  wu 

1894 

^^ 

51 

chia  yin 

1914 

z.% 

12 
yi  hai 

1875 

2.7^ 

32 

yi  wei  - 
1895 

z,.^ 

52 

yi  m.ao 

1915 

^^ 

pinft^u 

^  * 

33 
ping  shin 

^;i 

53 

ping  chin 

1916 

T€ 

14 
ting  ch'ou 

1877 

Tl 

34 

ting  yu 

1897 

TE 

54 
ting  ssu 

1917 

rJc'I 

15 
mou  yin 

1878 

/J^;^ 

35 

mou  shu 

1898 

^^ 

55 

mou  wu 

1918 

G^ 

16 

^^z  mao 

1879 

e^ 

36 

chi  hai 

1899 

CtH: 

56 
chi  wei 

1919 

J^^ 

17 
1880 

%^ 

37 

king  tzu 

1900 

^$ 

57 

king  shin 

1920 

te 

18 

hsin  ssu 

1881 

^ii 

38 

hsin  ch^ou 

1901 

f  s 

58 

hsin  wu 

1921 

i4=- 

19 

jin  wu 

1882 

iS 

39 

jin  yin 

1902 

ij^ 

59 

jin  shu 

1922 

%^ 

20 

kwei  wei 

1883 

^^ 

40 

kwei  mao 

1903 

^^ 

60 

kwei  hai 

1923 

CHINESE   OCCULTISM.  55 

SO  as  to  speak  of  the  "fir-rat"  year,  the  "bamboo-ox"  year,  the 
"torch-tiger"  year,  etc. 

FENG-SHUL* 

Chinese  occultism  has  been  reduced  to  a  system  in  an  occult 
science  (or  better,  pseudo-science)  called  feng-shui  which,  literally 
translated,  means  "wind  and  water,"  and  the  two  words  combined 
denote  atmospheric  influence,  or  climate.  As  a  science  feng-shui 
means  a  study  of  conditions,  spiritual  as  well  as  physical,  and  the 
average  Chinese  is  very  anxious  to  locate  the  site  of  graves,  tem- 
ples, public  and  private  edifices  so  as  to  insure  the  auspicious  in- 
fluence of  their  surroundings.  Belief  in  the  efficiency  of  feng-shui 
is  very  strong,  and  consequently  its  scholars  play  an  important  part 
in  public  and  private  life. 

The  science  of  feng-shui  is  fantastical,  but  its  advocates  claim 
the  authority  of  the  ancient  Yih  King,  which  in  chapter  XIII,  i  to 
12,  reads  as  follows: 

"By  looking  up  in  order  to  contemplate  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  by 
looking  down  to  examine  into  the  natural  influences  of  the  earth,  man  may 
acquire  a  knowledge  of  the  cause  of  darkness  and  light." 

Feng-shui  is  also  called  ti-li^  and  k'an-yil.X  Ti-li  may  fitly  be 
translated  by  "geomancy."  Li,  frequently  translated  by  "reason" 
or  "rational  principle,"  means  a  system  of  the  dominant  maxims 
which  govern  nature.  Ti  means  "the  earth"  and  so  the  two  together 
signify  "the  divining  art  as  to  terrestrial  conditions."  K'an-yii, 
translated  literally,  means  "canopy  chariot,"  but  k'an  (canopy)  re- 
fers to  the  sky  and  yii  (chariot)  refers  to  the  earth  as  the  vehicle 
in  which  all  living  beings  are  carried.-  The  term  "canopy  chariot" 
then  means  the  art  which  is  occupied  with  the  conditions  of  man's 
habitation. 

The  professional .  diviners  who  practise  feng-shui  are  called 
sien-sheng,%  "the  elder  born,"  which  is  a  title  of  respect  and  has  been 
translated  by  "professor."  They  are  called  either  feng-shui  sien- 
sheng,  "professors  of  divination,"  or  ti-li  sien-sheng,  "geomancers," 
or  k'an-yil  sien-sheng,  "masters  of  the  canopied  chariot." 

*]a7K       t^a        imm        i%^ 


56  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

The  application  of  the  feng-shui  is  naturally  very  loose,  and 
two  different  professors  may  easily  come  to  opposite  results  accord- 
ing to  their  individual  interpretation  of  the  correct  balance  of  the 
mixture  of  the  elements  and  the  several  spiritual  influences  that 
may  be  discovered  in  special  localities.  Diviners  use  for  their  geo- 
mantic  investigations  a  peculiar  instrument  with  a  mariner's  compass 
in  the  center  the  purpose  of  which  De  Groot  explains  as  follows : 

"The  chief  use  of  the  geomantic  compass  is  to  find  the  line  in  which, 
according  to  the  almanac,  a  grave  ought  to  be  made,  or  a  house  or  temple 
built.  Indeed,  in  this  most  useful  of  all  books  it  is  every  year  decided  between 
which  two  points  of  the  compass  the  lucky  line  for  that  year  lies,  and  which 
point  is  absolutely  inauspicious.  This  circumstance  not  only  entails  a  post- 
ponement of  many  burials,  seeing  it  is  not  always  possible  to  find  a  grave, 
answering  to  all  the  geomantic  requirements,  in  the  lucky  line  of  the  year; 
but  it  regularly  compels  the  owners  of  houses  and  temples  to  postpone  re- 
pairs or  the  rebuilding  of  the  same  until  a  year  in  which  the  line  wherein 
their  properties  are  situate  is  declared  to  be  lucky.  Many  buildings  for  this 
reason  alone  are  allowed  to  fall  to  ruin  for  years,  and  it  is  no  rare  thing  to 
see  whole  streets  simultaneously  demolished  and  rebuilt  in  years  auspicious 
to  the  direction  in  which  they  were  placed." 

Considering  the  sacrifices  which  are  expected  of  a  good  son 
in  the  selection  of  the  site  and  the  general  equipment  of  the  parental 
graves,  we  can  easily  understand  that  the  burden  of  ancestral  wor- 
ship is  very  heavy.  While  we  must  admire  the  filial  piety  of  the 
Chinese,  we  regret  to  see  the  uselessness  of  their  devotion  and  the 
waste  to  which  it  leads.  It  is  refreshing,  however,  to  observe  that 
the  general  rule  is  not  without  exceptions  and  we  find  that  there 
are  sensible  men  who  raise  their  voices  in  protest. 

Ts'ui  Yuen  of  the  second  century,  a  mandarin  of  high  position, 
died  at  Loh-Yang,  the  imperial  metropolis.  According  to  the  cus- 
tomary ritual,  his  son  should  have  transported  his  remains  to  his 
place  of  birth  for  burial  in  the  family  cemetery,  but  Ts'ui  Yuen  left 
these  instructions  with  his  son  Shih,  which  we  quote  from  De  Groot 
(loc.  cit,  pp.  837-8)  : 


*®In  his  voluminous  work  The  Religious  System  of  China,  Vol.  Ill,  Bk.  i. 
•Disposal  of  the  Dead."    Part  3.    "The  Grave,"  p.  974. 


CHINESE   OCCULTISM.  57 

"Human  beings  borrow  from  heaven  and  earth  the  breath  upon  which 
they  Hve,  and  at  the  end  of  their  terrestrial  career  they  restitute  the  etherial 
parts  of  that  breath  to  heaven,  giving  their  bones  back  to  earth ;  consequently, 
what  part  of  the  earth  can  be  unsuitable  for  concealing  their  skeletons?  You 
must  not  take  me  back  to  my  place  of  birth,  nor  may  you  accept  any  funeral 
presents,  neither  offerings  of  mutton  or  pork." 

The  Chinese  authority  from  which  Professor  De  Groot  quotes, 
adds:" 

"Respectfully  receiving  these  his  last  orders,  Shih  kept  the  corpse  in 
Loh-Yang  and  there  buried  it." 

The  spirit  of  Ts'ui  Yuen  has  not  died  out,  as  is  attested  by  a 
satirical  poem  which  is  current  to-day,  and  which  humorously  points 
out  the  inconsistency  of  those  mantics  or  soothsayers  who  know 
all  the  conditions  of  the  four  quarters  and  promise  their  patrons 
to  show  them  (for  a  due  consideration)  a  spot  so  auspicious  for 
a  grave  that  the  spirit  of  their  ancestor  will  bestow  upon  members 
of  the  family  the  dignity  of  kings.  If  that  were  true,  why  have  they 
not  buried  their  own  parents  there?  The  poem  in  the  original 
Chinese  is  as  follows : 

ti  li  hsien  sheng  kwan  shuo  huang 
chih  nan  chih  pei  chih  hsi  tung 
shan  chung  je  yu  wang  hou  ti 
he  pu  hsin  lai  tsang  nai  weng.*^ 

This  translation  imitates  the  original  as  closely  as  possible  in 
metre  and  meaning: 

Trash  these  mantics  manifest, 
Point  out  south,  north,  east  and  west; 
Know  graves  royalty  bestowing 
Yet  their  own  sires  there  not  rest 

"  Books  of  the  Later  Han  Dynasty,  Chap.  82  line  15. 

"In  the  early  Chinese  form,  the  final  words  of  the  first,  second,  and 
fourth  lines  were  all  pronounced  as  if  ending  in  ong.  Consequently,  although 
the  individual  words  have  changed  their  form,  the  series  is  considered  as 
containing  one  rhyme  and,  according  to  Chinese  rules  of  rhyming,  is  still  so 
used  in  verse. 


S8 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


LO-PAN. 

Collectors  of  curios  may  have  seen  in  Chinese  stores  the  instru- 
ment called  lo-pan*  (net-tablet),  or  lo-kingf  (net-standard),  or  pan- 
shihX  (disk-norm).  This  is  the  geomancer's  compass  which  incorpo- 


jr     fot^i 


'^^ 


^^t^ 


'=.- --:?:?;:!  .isf  :..;?;  rf^.-  .-.  .--<;  ^t^. 


\v^V, 


# 


LO-PAN  OR  NET  TABLET. 
[The  original  is  in  the  possession  of  Prof.  Friedrich  Hirth.] 

rates  the  sum-total  of  feng-shui.  The  Chinese  salesman  who  showed 
the  instrument  at  my  request,  a  man  who  must  have  lived  half  his 
life  or  more  in  the  United  States,  expressed  great  respect  for  it 
and  tried  to  impress  me  with  the  fact  that  it  contained  the  deepest 
wisdom  of  the  ages. 

The  lo-pan  is  a  disk  of  lacquered  wood,  mostly  of  yellow  color, 


MM 


xm.^ 


CHINESE   OCCULTISM.  59 

carrying  in  its  center  under  glass,  a  small  mariner's  compass.  Some 
of  the  characters  written  in  the  surrounding  circles  are  red,  and 
some  are  black.  Different  copies  differ  in  details,  but  all  are  prac- 
tically the  same  in  their  general  and  most  characteristic  features. 
The  concentric  circles  of  the  net  tablet  are  called  ts'eng,'^  i.  e., 
"tiers,"  "stories,"  or  "strata." 

The  mariner's  compass  in  the  center  represents  fai  chih,'f  "the 
great  origin."  The  first  circle  contains  the  eight  trigrams  in  the 
arrangement  of  Fr.h-Hi,  which  denote  the  eight  directions  of  the 
compass  and  the  virtues  and  properties  attributed  to  them. 

The  second  circle  contains  the  numerals  from  one  to  nine  in 
the  arrangement  of  the  magic  square,  the  five  being  omitted  as  it 
belongs  in  the  center.  Accordingly  the  sum  of  each  two  opposite 
figures  always  makes  ten. 

The  third  row  represents  twenty-four  celestial  constellations, 
each  expressed  in  two  characters,  so  that  three  names  are  registered 
in  each  octant. 

The  fourth  circle  represents  in  occult  terms  twenty-four  di- 
visions of  the  compass.  Southeast,  southwest,  northeast,  and  north- 
west are  written  in  their  kwa  names,  while  the  rest  are  designated 
alternately  by  the  ten  stems  and  twelve  branches ;  two  of  the  stems 
are  omitted,  however,  because  referring  to  the  element  earth,  they 
are  supposed  to  belong  in  the  center.  If  we  write  the  ten  stems  as 
numerals  from  one  to  ten,  the  twelve  branches  in  italic  letters  from 
a  to  m,  and  the  four  kwa  names  in  Roman  capitals  A  to  D,  we  have 
the  following  arrangement,  beginning  in  the  southeast:  A  f  ^  g 
4h'BiykSlCmgaiobDcid2e.  This  arrangement  is  an- 
cient for  it  is  quoted  as  an  established  part  of  the  divining  method 
by  Sze-Ma  Ch'ien  in  the  twenty-fifth  chapter  of  his  Historical 
Records,  which  is  devoted  to  the  art  of  divination. 

The  fifth  circle  is  divided  into  seventy-two  parts  each  contain- 
ing two  characters  of  the  sexagenary  cycle,  written  one  above  the 
other,  and  arranged  in  groups  of  five  divided  by  blank  spaces.  If 
we  again  express  the  ten  stems  in  figures  and  the  twelve  branches 

*m  t±m 


(9 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


in  italics,  the  scheme  (starting  with  the  first  branch  a  standing  in 
the  north)  reads  as  follows: 


13  5  7  9 
a  a  a  a  a 

7  9  13  5 
g  ^  g  g  g 


2  4  6  8  10 
bb  bb  b 

8  10  2  4  6 
h  h  h  h  h 


3  5  7  9  1 

c  c  c  c  c 

9  13  5  7 

/  i   i  i  i 


4  6  8  10  2 

d  d  d  d  d 

10  2  4  6  8 

k  k  k  k  k 

5  7  9  13 

e  e  e  e  e 

13  5  7  9 

I  I  I  I   I 


6  8  10  2  4 
f  f  f  f  f 

2  4   6    8  10 
m  m  m  m  m 


In  the  sixth  row  "each  octant  is  divided  into  three  sections,  each 
having  five  compartments  in  the  second  and  fourth  of  which  appear 
two  characters  of  the  sexagenary  cycle.  Accordingly  they  are  ar- 
ranged in  the  following  order,  the  blanks  being  expressed  by  zeros : 


0  3  0  7  0 

0  a  0  aO 

0  4  0  8  0 

0  dO  d  0 

0  3  0  7  0 
0^0^  0 

0  4  0  8  0 


0  3  0  7  0 

0  a  0  a  0 

0  4  0  8  0 

0  d  ()d  0 

0  3  0  7  0 
O^O^O 

0  4  0  8  0 


0  4  0  8  0 

0  b  0  b  0 

0  3  0  7  0 

0  e  0  e  0 

0  4  0  8  0 

0  h  Q  h  0 

0  3  0  7  0 
0/0/0 


0  4  0  8  0 

0  b  0  b  0 

0  3  0  7  0 

0  e  0  e  0 

0  4  0  8  0 

0  h  0  h  Q 

0  3  0  7  0 
0/0/0 


0  3  0  7  0 
0  ^  0  ^  0 

0  4  0  8  0 
0/0/0 

0  3  0  7  0 
0  z   0   /  0 

0  4  0  8  0 
0  wO  w  0 


0  3  0  7  0 

0  <:  0  ^  0 

0  4  0  8  0 

0  /O  /O 

0  3  0  7  0 

0  2   0  z  0 

0  4  0  8  0 

0  mOm  0 


The  third  and  fourth  stems  refer  to  fire  and  the  seventh  and  eighth 
to  metal. 

The  seventh  row  is  devoted  to  the  eight  stars  of  the  Dipper, 
which  in  Chinese  folklore  is  regarded  with  much  awe,  because  this 
most  conspicuous  constellation  revolves  around  the  polar  star  and 
seems  to  resemble  the  hand  of  a  watch  on  the  great  celestial  dial 
of  the  universe.  We  must  remember  that  the  seventh  star  is  double, 
its  luminous  satellite  being  visible  even  without  the  assistance  of 
a  telescope.  If  we  represent  the  names  of  the  eight  stars  by  numbers 
from  one  to  eight,  their  arrangement  beginning  with  the  southwest 
is  as  follows  :i85744623i  57813266475832. 

Beyond  the  seventh  circle  we  have  a  double  line  which  divides 
the  seven  inner  rows  from  the  nine  outer  ones.  The  first  of  these, 
the  eighth  circle,  is  divided  into  twelve  sections  each  having  three 
characters,  the  central  ones  written  in  red  being  the  sun  and  moon 


CHINESE  OCCULTISM. 


6i 


together  with  the  five  elements  twice  repeated.  Beginning  in  the 
south  with  the  character  sun,  and  turning  toward  the  left,  they 
read  as  follows:  sun,  moon,  water,  metal,  fire,  wood,  earth,  earth, 
wood,  fire,  metal,  water. 

The  ninth  row,  consisting  of  twelve  sections,  represents  the 
twelve  branches  in  regular  succession,  beginning  in  the  north  with 
the  first  and  turning  toward  the  right.  They  coincide  in  position 
with  the  twelve  branches  as  they  appear  in  the  fourth  row. 

The  tenth  row  is  a  repetition  of  the  fifth,  with  the  exception 
that  here  the  characters  are  distributed  evenly  over  the  whole  circle. 

The  eleventh  row  consists  of  numerals  only.  The  circle  is  di- 
vided into  twelve  sections,  each  being  subdivided  into  five  compart- 
fnents  which  contain  the  following  scheme  repeated  twelve  times: 

i  37  I  I  I  5  I  I  I  73  |. 

The  twelfth  row  is  inscribed  with  the  names  of  the  sub-divisions 
of  the  four  seasons,  beginning  with  early  spring  above  the  unalloyed 
ym  and  turning  toward  the  right. 


SPRING. 

AL.  ^F  Beginning  of  Spring. 

Pfi  TK  Rain  Water. 

^  m  Resurrection  of  hibernat- 
ing Insects. 

^  93  Vernal  Equinox. 
m  ^  Pure  Brightness. 
3fex!  PB  Rains  over  the  Grain. 


AUTUMN. 

_IL  ^  Beginning  of  Autumn. 

te  ^  Limit  of  Heat. 

fi  M  White  Dew. 

Wi  ^  Autumnal  Equinox. 

M  M  Cold  Dew. 

;{W  1^  Descent  of  Hoar  Frost. 


SUMMER. 

JUL  ^  Beginning  of  Summer. 
/J^  ^  Grain  filling  a  little. 
^  @  Grain  in  Ear. 
^  ^  Summer  Solstice. 
/J^  M'  Slight  Heat. 
y^  ^  Great  Heat. 


WINTER. 


JLL  ^  Beginning  of  Winter. 
/)>»  ^  Little  Snow. 
y^  §  Heavy  Snow. 
^  ^  Winter  Solstice. 
/J>  ^Little  Cold. 
y^  ^  Severe  Cold. 


62  .  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

The  thirteenth  row  is  divided  into  seventy-two  equal  parts, 
which  are  left  blank. 

The  fifteenth  row  is  divided  into  three  hundred  and  sixty  equal 
blanks  representing  the  degrees  of  a  circle  which  method  of  division 
the  Chinese  as  well  as  we  of  the  Occident  have  inherited  from  the 
Babylonians. 

The  sixteenth  row  contains  the  names  of  the  twenty-eight  con- 
stellations together  with  the  number  of  degrees  whi^h  each  covers. 
These  degrees  are  specifically  marked  in  the  fourteenth  circle  in 
which  the  odd  numbers  only  are  expressed.  The  series  starting  in 
the  southeast  and  turning  toward  the  right,  is  as  follows: 

1.  The  horn,  ii° ;  in  Virgo. 

2.  The  neck,  ii°;  in  Virgo. 

3.  The  bottom,  18° ;  in  Libra, 

4.  The  room,  5° ;  in  Scorpio. 

5.  The  heart,  8° ;  in  Scorpio. 

6.  The  tail,  15° ;  in  Scorpio. 

7.  The  sieve,  9° ;  in  Sagittarius. 

8.  The  measure,  24° ;  in  Sagittarius. 

9.  The  ox,  8° ;  in  Aries  and  Sagittarius. 

10.  The  damsel,  11°;  in  Aquarius. 

11.  The  void,  10°;  in  Aquarius  and  Equuleus. 

12.  Danger,  20° ;  in  Aquarius  and  Pegasus. 

13.  The  house,  16° ;  in  Pegasus. 

14.  The  wall,  13° ;  in  Pegasus  and  Andromeda. 

15.  Astride,  11°;  in  Andromeda  and  Pisces. 

16.  The  hump,  13° ;  in  Aries. 

17.  The  stomach,  12° ;  in  Musca  Borealis. 

18.  The  Pleiades,  9°.     (In  Chinese  wtao.)" 

19.  The  end,  15° ;  in  Hyades  and  Taurus. 

20.  The  bill  or  beak,  1° ;  in  Orion. 

21.  Crossing,  or  mixture,  11°;  in  Orion. 

22.  The  well  or  pond,  31°;  in  Gemini. 

23.  The  ghost,  5° ;  in  Cancer. 

24.  The  willow,  17° ;  in  Hydra. 

"The  Chinese  term  mao  does  not  possess  any  other  significance  except 
the  name  of  this  constellation.  This  character  is  unfortunately  misprinted  in 
Mayers,  Chinese  Reader's  Manual.  It  is  correct  in  the  enumeration  of  Pro- 
fessor De  Groot,  loc.  cit.,  p.  972. 


CHINESE   OCCULTISM. 

25.  The  Star,  8° ;  in  Hydra. 

26.  The  drawn  bow,  18° ;  in  Hydra. 

27.  The  wing,  17° ;  in  Crater  and  Hydra. 

28.  The  back  of  a  carriage  seat,  13° ;  in  Corvus. 


63 


EUROPEAN  COMPASS. 

(Presunjably  Italian.) 

The  two  plates  are  hinged  together  and  fold  upon  one  another  in 

the  same  way  as  the  European  compasses  shown  in  the  following 

pages. 


(64 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


THE  MARINER'S  COMPASS  A  CHINESE  INVENTION. 

The  lo-pan  or  net  tablet  unquestionably  serves  superstitious  pur- 
poses, but  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  much  genuine  science  is  in- 
corporated in  many  of  its  details,  and  the  latter  no  doubt  has  given 
countenance  to  the  former.  This  again  is  according  to  the  general 
law  of  the  evolution  of  mankind  and  finds  its  parallel  in  the  history 
of  European  civilisation.  We  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  great 
occultists  of  the  Middle  Ages,  Paracelsus.  Albertus  Magnus,  and 


CHINESE  POCKET  COMPASS. 


men  like  them  down  to  Agrippa  of  Nettesheim,  were  the  most 
powerful  intellects  of  their  day;  and  though  they  were  deeply  en- 
tangled in  mysticism,  much  of  their  life's  work  was  devoted  to  the 
furtherance  of  genuine  scientific  enquiry. 

In  the  Chinese  Middle  Ages  the  leading  thinkers  were  of  the 
same  stamp,  and  so  it  is  natural  that  much  of  genuine  astronomy 
and  the  results  of  accurate  observation  of  the  stars  are  incorporated 
in  the  lo-pan.     The  most  obvious  part  of  it  which  must  have  ap- 


CHINESE  OCCULTISM. 


65 


EUROPEAN  COMPASS. 
(Presumably  Nuremberg.) 


66  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

peared  extremely  mystifying  in  former  centuries  was,  as  the  Chi- 
nese call  it,  the  south-pointing  needle — the  mariner's  compass — situ- 
ated in  the  center  of  the  lo-pan. 

The  south-pointing  needle  is  an  ancient  Chinese  invention  which 
for  some  time  seems  to  have  been  forgotten.  Professor  Friedrich 
Hirth  of  Columbia  University  has  privately  communicated  to  me 
facts  which  prove  that  it  was  employed  in  ancient  times  by  travelers 
through  the  desert,  that  the  invention  was  lost  and  had  to  be  re- 
discovered. We  would  add,  too,  that  the  Chinese  invention  became 
known  in  Europe  after  the  time  of  Marco  Polo  where  it  was  soon 
used  as  a  mariner's  compass.  The  incident  is  well  known  and 
can  easily  be  established  on  the  testimony  of  literary  sources,  but 
while  sauntering  through  the  National  Museum  at  Washington,  the 
writer  discovered  a  palpable  evidence  in  the  show  cases  there  ex- 
hibited, which  displayed  the  Chinese  pocket  instruments  containing 
south-pointing  needles  presumably  a  few  centuries  old,  side  by  side 
with  European  compasses.  They  are  of  the  same  oblong  shape  and 
consist  of  two  tablets  hinged  in  the  same  manner.  The  European 
instruments  have  sun-dials  in  addition  and  are  decidedly  more  ser- 
viceable for  practical  use  but  we  can  not  doubt  that  for  the  original 
idea  our  ancestors  are  indebted  to  our  Mongol  fellow-men.* 


THE  PERSONIFICATION  OF  STARS. 

To  the  Chinese  (as  also  in  some  respects  to  the  Babylonians)  the 
stars  are  actual  presences  who  sway  the  destinies  of  mankind,  and  we 
reproduce  here  a  series  of  illustrations  from  a  Buddhist  picture-book 
printed  in  Japan.  They  are  based  upon  ancient  traditions  ultimately 
derived  from  Sumer  and  Accad,  but  we  have  at  present  no  means  to 
determine  the  question  of  their  history,  especially  as  to  their  fate  in 
China.  One  thing,  however,  may  be  regarded  as  certain,  viz.,  that 
their  traditional  forms  are  prior  to  the  calendar  reform  of  the  Jesuits. 
Hence  we  must  assume  that  they  have  been  imported  by  the  way  on 

*  We  wish  to  express  here  our  indebtedness  to  the  National  Museum  and 
its  officers,  and  especially  to  Prof.  Otis  T.  Mason  and  Mr.  George  C.  Maynard. 
for  the  reproduction  of  characteristic  specimens  of  this  interesting  collection. 


CHINESE   OCCULTISM. 


67 


land  either  by  the  Buddhists  from  India,  or  through  some  earHer 
civiHsing  influences  perhaps  from  ancient  Babylon,  or  may  be  in 
later  times  from  Greece  by  way  of  Bactria  and  Tibet.    An  historical 


mti^l  4^^t^<ri  w  Btai 


l.l^^B'^4 


mm^'t 


i4 


connection  of  some  kind  or  other  with  Western  astronomy  which 
also  derives  its  origin  from  ancient  Babylon,  can  scarcely  be  doubted ; 
for  the  general  similarities  are  too  pronounced,  and  the  more  par- 


68 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


ticular  ones  serve  as  obvious  evidences  which  cannot  be  rejected, 
while  the  differences  afford  suggestions  in  regard  to  their  develop- 
ment and  fate. 


^mmt  1  If  mi^\  Mmm(i 


M^\A^^ 


\^m^ 


According  to  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  custom,  the  series  be- 
gins in  the  right  upper  corners  and  the  order  proceeds  downwards 
and  to  the  left. 

The  first  figure  represents  the  sun ;  the  second,  the  moon.     In 


CHINESE   OCCULTISM. 


69 


the  next  row  we  see  the  polar  star  seated  (like  Buddha)  on  a  lotus 
and  holding  in  his  hands  a  wheel  to  indicate  that  he  is  the  hub  of 
the  heavens.     As  Buddha  in  the  spiritual  world,  so  the  polar  star 


kmm  a 


s,\m^i^ 


mt'^'^ 


n 


w 


I^^tt^'^ 


^^m^Bt^ 


m%mt 


* 

^ 
^ 
M 


•3L 


among  the  constellations  is  alone  at  rest  while  all  other  things  in  the 
universe  whirl  round  in  unceasing  rotation.  In  the  same  column  is 
the  star  of  twilight-brightness,  which  may  be  either  the  morning  or 
evening  star. 


70 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


The  third  row  of  the  same  page  begins  the  series  of  stars  that 
constitute  Ursa  Major,  popularly  called  "the  dipper"  in  America  and 
known  in  China  as  "the  bushel." 


*  ^\  ft 


V 


g-tsH^^qftf^?^ 


i 


mmt^ 


FT 
Pfe 


:>\ 


o] 


^mK 


^<vskltsf 


mm^i 


The  satellite  of  the  seventh  star  in  Ursa  Major  is  pictured 
as  a  smaller  companion  in  the  right  hand  corner  in  the  field  of  his 
bigger  brother.     Since  he  stands  at  the  very  point  of  the  constella- 


CHINESE   OCCULTISM. 


71 


tion,  his  significance  is  in  inverse  proportion  to  his  size,  in  a  similar 
way  as  Tom  Thumb  always  takes  the  initiative  in  all  deeds  and 
proves  to  be  the  saviour  of  his  seven  brothers. 


#  +?•  3i 


#^'#1^  =(&T'^ 


^^   1.    it 


^  "^  3-  -H. 

^  7ft  *  " 


a  ^{*'Sf 


^  tH^^ 


«{**'^ 


The  seven  stars  of  Ursa  Major  are  very  conspicuous  in  the 
northern  firmament,  and  turn  around  in  the  sky  like  a  big  hand  on 
the  celestial  dial  pointing  out  the  hour  in  the  clock  work  of  the 


72 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


universe.    There  is  a  proverbial  saying  in  China  which  incorporates 
the  popular  Chinese  view  as  follows: 

"When  the  handle  of  the  northern  bushel    {Pch  Tao)   points 


l*!<f 


^ftU  5  ^ijtA 


,0-0 


4rr,  4'  e.  :i,^  ^ii 
^  4£.  ^^  -^  ih  f  ^ 


91 


ii  ^|S?  6 


^{il.^^ 


i^A 


T^^^ 


east  at  nightfall  it  is  spring  throughout  the  land;  when  it  points 
south,  it  is  summer;  when  west,  it  is  autumn;  and  when  north, 
winter." 

The  three  stars  i,  k,  A  of  Ursa  Major  are  supposed  to  be  the 


CHINESE   OCCULTISM. 


73 


residence  of  the  three  councilor  spirits  mentioned  in  the  Kan  Ying 
P'ien  as  recording  the  deeds  of  men,  and  thus  our  constellation  is 
symbolically  identified  in  the  imagination  of  the  Chinese,  with  divine 
justice. 


%m^ 


«t 


x\ 


Pl"«C 


T  -4 


%W^ 


HtfiTh  ^\%^ 


The  seven  planets  are  here  increased  after  the  precedence  of 
Hindu  astrology  by  two  three-headed  figures  called  Rahu  and  Ketu, 
the  former  being  conceived  as  the  head,  and  the  latter  as  the  tail  of 


74 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


the  dragon  who  is  supposed  to  be  responsible  for  solar  and  lunar 
eclipses.  Rahu  represents  the  ascending  and  Ketu  the  descending 
nodes  in  the  ecliptic. 


^  ^  * 


1  is\m^ 


mm^ 


9  «|5ft.H 


m  W^^^ 


a  'fel^rl^ 


The  nine  personalities  which  correspond  to  the  seven  planets 
plus  Rahu  and  Ketu  are  in  Hindu  mythology  called:  Surya,  the 
Sun;  Chandra,  the  moon;  Mangala,  Mars;  Buddha,  Mercury;  Vri- 
haspati,  Jupiter ;  Sukra,  Venus ;  Sani,  Saturn ;  while  Ketu  and  Rahu 


CHINESE   OCCULTISM. 


75 


are  identified  with  stars  in  the  Dragon.  Rahu  is  represented  head- 
less and  Ketu  as  a  trunkless  head.  A  representation  of  this  Hindu 
notion  is  found  in  Colonel  Stuart's  zodiac  picture  reproduced  in 
Moor's  Hindu  Pantheon,  Plate  XLVIII.  It  shows  Surya  the  sun 
in  the  center  drawn  by  seven  horses,  with  Aruna  as  charioteer.  Surya 
in  the  colored  original  is  in  gold,  while  Aruna  is  painted  deep  red. 
Chandra  rides  an  antelope,  Mangala  a  ram,  Buddha  is  seated  on  a 


A   HINDU   ZODIAC. 

carpet ;  Rahu  and  Ketu  here  interrupt  the  regular  order,  the  former 
being  represented  as  riding  on  an  owl,  while  the  latter,  a  mere  head, 
is  placed  on  a  divan.  Vrihaspati  like  Buddha  is  seated  on  an  animal 
that  may  have  been  intended  for  a  cat,  while  Sani  rides  on  a  raven. 
Next  in  order  on  our  tables  beginning  with  the  second  column 


76 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


CHINESE  OCCULTISM. 


17 


of  their  fourth  page,  are  the  twenty-eight  constellations  mentioned 
above  which  play  an  important  part  in  Chinese  occultism.  The  ap- 
proximate outline  of  the  constellation  is  indicated  in  each  case  above 
the  picture,  and  we  see,  for  instance,  why  the  fifteenth  constellation 
is  called  "astride,"  and  the  twenty-sixth,  a  "drawn  bow." 

We  add  here  to  our  illustrations  of  stars  a  picture  of  Chih  Nii 
and  Keng  Niu,  the  stars  Vega  and  Aquila  on  either  side  of  the 
Milky  Way,  of  which  Chinese  folklore  tells  one  of  the  prettiest  fairy- 
tales of  China.  It  is  briefly  thus :  The  sun-god  had  a  daughter 
Chih  Nil  (star  Vega  =  a  in  Lyre)  who  excelled  by  her  skill  in 
weaving  and  her  industrial  habits.     To  recompense  her  he  had  her 


THE  SPINNING  DAMSEL  AND  COWHERD. 

A  Chinese  fairy  tale  of  the  star  Vega.    A  native  illustration  from 
Williams's  Middle  Kingdom. 


married  to  Keng  Niu  the  herdsman  (constellation  Aquila),  who 
herded  his  cattle  on  the  silver  stream  of  heaven  (the  Milky  Way). 
As  soon  as  married,  Chih  Nii  changed  her  habits  for  the  worse ;. 
she  forsook  her  loom  and  gave  herself  up  to  merry-making  and 
idleness.  Thereupon  her  father  decided  to  separate  the  lovers  by  the 
stream  and  placed  them  each  on  one  side  of  the  Milky  Way,  allowing 
the  husband  to  meet  his  wife  over  a  bridge  of  many  thousand  mag- 
pies only  once  a  year,  on  the  seventh  day  of  the  seventh  month, 
which  is  a  holy  day  in  China  even  now. 

We  know  that  the  Chinese  government  has  kept  an  impe- 


/ 


CHINESE   OCCULTISM. 


79 


rial  astronomer  since  prehistoric  times,  for  the  office  is  mentioned 
in  the  earliest  documents.     The  famous  emperor  Kang  Hi  erected 


a  new  observatory  which  was  built  according  to  the  instructions 
of  the  Jesuit  fathers  whose  learning  at  that  time  was  highly  re- 


8o 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


CHINESE  OCCULTISM.  8l 

spected  in  China.  The  instruments  remained  at  Peking  until  the 
Boxer  riots  when  they  were  removed  to  Germany  at  the  command 
of  Emperor  WilUam. 

Our  illustrations  will  enable  the  reader  to  form  a  clear  con- 
ception of  the  instruments  as  well  as  the  style  in  which  they  have 
been  put  up.  They  stand  on  a  high  platform  overlooking  the  city, 
surrounded  by  battlements  in  the  style  of  an  old  fortress.  One 
general  view  is  a  reproduction  of  an  old  cut  at  the  time  of  the 
erection  of  the  observatory  under  the  Jesuit  fathers.  The  other 
one  is  a  photograph  made  in  modern  times  and  showing  the  instru- 
ments in  situ  before  their  removal  to  Potsdam. 

The  gem  of  the  collection  is  decidedly  the  spherical  astrolabe 
which  has  been  made  after  the  instructions  of  Ko  Chow  King, 
astronomer  royal  of  emperor  Tai  Tsu,  of  the  Yiian  dynasty,  the 
founder  of  Peking.  It  is  said  to  be  a  marvel  of  Chinese  art.  In 
the  general  view  we  notice  a  quadrant  on  the  left-hand  side  between 
two  light  columns  in  French  style.  It  is  a  present  of  King  Louis 
XIV  sent  to  the  emperor  Kang  Hi  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
Among  the  instruments  preserved  in  the  shed  there  are  some  curios 
of  great  artistic  and  historical  value.  The  whole  observatory  as 
it  stood  has  always  been  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  noteworthy 
treasures  of  the  Tartar  capital  of  the  Celestial  Empire. 

PREHISTORIC  CONNECTIONS. 

The  evidences  that  indicate  a  Western  origin  of  Chinese  civili- 
sation are  very  strong,  and  it  seems  that  the  first  Chinese  settlers 
must  have  come  in  prehistoric  times  from  a  country  that  was  closely 
connected  with  the  founders  of  Babylonian  culture.  There  is  an 
unmistakable  resemblance  between  cuneiform  writing  and  Chinese 
script,  so  as  to  make  it  quite  probable  that  they  have  been  derived 
from  a  common  source.  We  have,  further,  the  sexagenary  cycle 
corresponding  to  the  use  of  the  number  sixty  in  Babylonia,  and 
many  similarities  in  astronomical  names  and  notions.  Moreover, 
the  Chinese  divide  the  circle  into  three  hundred  and  sixty  degrees 
as  did  the  Babylonians,  a  system  which  has  been  adhered  to  in  the 
West  down  to  modern  times. 


82 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


CHINESE   OCCULTISM.  83 

The  Prometheus  legend  seems  to  come  from  the  same  source 
(presumably  Akkad)  as  the  story  of  the  Chinese  "Fire  Man,"  Sui- 
Jen.  The  Babylonian  story  of  Tiamat  as  to  the  formation  of  the 
world  is  repeated  in  the  legend  of  P'an-Ku,  the  personification  of 
the  ancient  abyss. 

Finally  the  yih  system  of  the  yang  and  the  yin  is  paralleled 
in  at  least  one  Semitic  tribe  by  the  similar  divining  method  of  the 
Urim  and  Thummim.  Though  in  the  latter  case  the  loss  of  details 
prevents  us  from  having  any  evidence  of  a  historical  connection, 
the  similarity  of  the  purpose,  as  well  as  the  duality  of  the  elements 
of  the  oracle  cannot  be  denied. 

If  none  of  these  indications  is  conclusive  when  considered  sepa- 
rately, we  can  not  disregard  them  when  all  are  taken  together. 

Further  bearing  in  mind  that  there  is  an  ancient  tradition  in 
China  of  a  settlement  having  been  made  by  a  tribe  coming  from  the 
Far  West,  we  may  very  well  assume  the  ancestors  of  the  Chinese 
to  be  a  detachment  of  the  founders  of  the  Babylonian  civilisation, 
either  Sumerians  or  Akkadians,  and  that  they  left  their  home  in 
prehistoric  times  presumably  even  before  the  first  Semitic  invasion 
or  soon  afterwards.  They  were  perhaps  that  portion  of  the  people 
who  would  not  submit  to  the  new  condition  of  things  and  preferred 
exile  to  absorption  by  a  victorious  enemy. 

Our  proposition  that  even  in  prehistoric  times  a  connection 
must  have  existed  between  all  civilised  nations  of  the  East  and  of 
the  West,  will  be  further  borne  out  by  the  additional  evidence  fur- 
nished by  a  comparative  study  of  the  several  calendar  systems,  as 
based  upon  the  sun's  course  through  the  zodiac,  and  it  is  remark- 
able that  it  includes  even  the  Mayas  of  Central  America.  Since  the 
subject  is  interesting  but  rather  complicated,  requiring  considerable 
space  and  the  reproduction  of  many  illustrations,  we  shall  discuss 
it  in  a  special  chapter. 


ZODIACS  OF  DIFFERENT  NATIONS. 

WITH  REFERENCE  TO   CHINA. 

TTOW  close  must  have  been  the  interrelation  of  primitive  man- 
^-^  kind,  how  keen  their  observation  of  nature,  and  considering 
their  limitations  when  compared  with  modern  methods,  how  pro- 
found after  all,  their  philosophy,  their  science,  their  astronomy, 
their  physics,  their  mechanics !  In  spite  of  the  absence  of  railroads, 
steamers,  postal  service  and  telegraph,  there  must  have  been  a 
communication  of  thought  which  is  as  yet  little  appreciated.  Ideas, 
the  interpretation  of  nature,  and  the  conception  of  things  divine 
as  well  as  secular,  must  have  traveled  from  place  to  place.  Their 
march  must  have  been  extremely  slow,  but  they  must  have  gone 
out  and  spread  from  nation  to  nation.  They  had  to  cross  seas  and 
deserts.  They  had  to  be  translated  into  new  tongues,  but  they 
traveled  in  spite  of  all  obstacles.  This  is  certain  because  we  find 
among  the  most  remote  nations  of  the  earth  kindred  notions  the 
similarity  of  which  can  scarcely  be  explained  as  a  mere  parallelism. 

I  will  say  here  that  I  arrived  at  the  theory  of  an  interconnection 
of  primitive  mankind  not  because  I  sought  it,  but  because  I  tried 
to  collect  unequivocal  instances  to  the  contrary,  and  so  I  naturally 
deem  it  a  well-assured  conclusion. 

The  human  mind  will  naturally  pass  through  certain  phases  of 
evolution  and  man  will  necessarily,  and  in  different  places  in  perfect 
independence  develop  certain  definite  ideas  of  ghosts,  of  gods,  of 
devils,  of  sacrifice,  of  prayer,  of  the  contrast  between  God  and 
Devil,  of  one  omnipotent  God,  of  a  God-father,  of  a  God-man,  of 
a  Saviour,  of  an  Avatar,  of  a  Buddha,  of  a  Messiah,  of  a  Christ, 


ZODIACS   OF  DIFFERENT   NATIONS. 


8s 


of  salvation,  of  immortality,  etc.  It  would  be  desirable  to  have 
some  information  on  the  development  and  history  of  the  rational 
beings  on  other  planets,  and  it  is  probable  that  in  spite  of  many 
differences  all  the  essential  features  of  their  spiritual  and  religious 
growth  will  prove  the  same.  I  am  still  .convinced  that  the  greater 
part  of  the  parallelism  between  Buddhism  and  Christianity  is  of 
independent  origin,  for  it  is  certain  that  at  any  rate  the  church 
development  in  both   religions  took  place   without  any  historical 


THE  ZODIAC  ON  THE  MITHRAIC  MONUMENT  AT  HEDDERNHEIM.  ^^^* 


connection  except  in  Tibet  where  the  Nestorian  faith  had  for  a 
time  taken  deep  root.  And  yet  we  have  a  Christian  Doketism  and 
a  Buddhist  Doketism;  we  have  Christian  reformers  who  believe  in 
the  paramount  efficacy  of  faith,  and  Buddhist  preachers  who  pro- 
claim the  doctrine  almost  in  the  same  words  as  Luther,  etc. 

I  believe  that  the  decimal  system  of  numbers  originated  natur- 
ally and  necessarily,  and  it  is  obvious  that  it  may  very  easily  have 
developed  simultaneously  in  perfect  independence.     If  the  rational 


86 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


beings  of  some  other  planet  have  eight  fingers,  instead  of  ten,  they 
will  with  the  same  inevitable  necessity  develop  an  octonary  system 
which  possesses  many  advantages  over  the  decimal.  Again,  if  they 
had  twelve  fingers,  they  would  count  in  dozens  and  dozens  of  dozens. 
Some  features  are  universal,  others  depend  upon  definite  con- 
ditions, while  all  of  them  are  subject  to  local  modifications  in  un- 


MAYAN  CALENDAR. 
Zejevary  Manuscript. 


essential  details.  Having  gone  in  quest  of  unequivocal  evidences 
of  the  independent  development  of  the  universal,  I  found  myself 
everywhere  baffled  by  a  possible  historical  connection,  and  now  I 
am  forced  to  concede  that  an  interconnection  of  prehistoric  man- 
kind in  its  remotest  corners  can  no  longer  be  doubted. 

Mr.  Richard  H.  Geoghegan  has  published  in  The  Monist  (Oc- 


ZODIACS   OF  DIFFERENT   NATIONS. 


87 


tober  1906)  an  interesting  article  "On  the  Ideograms  of  the  Chinese 
and  Central  American  Calendars,"  in  which  he  traces  several  most 
remarkable  similarities  between  the  Chinese  and  the  Mayan  calen- 
dars. 

The  results  of  Mr.  Geoghegan's  investigations  suggest  that  in 
a  prehistoric  age  there  must  have  been  an  interconnection  between 


(^  death) 


MAYAN  ASSIGNMENT  OF  ANIMALS  TO  PARTS  OF  THE  BODY.      ^223 


the  primitive  civilisation  of  America  and  Asia,  and  it  can  scarcely 
be  gainsaid  if  we  but  compare  the  Mayan,  the  Chinese,  and  the 
mediaeval  European  interpretation  of  the  several  organs  of  the 
body  in  terms  of  the  calendar  or  the  zodiac,  and  we  must  grant 
that  here  are  similarities  of  such  a  peculiarly  intricate  character 


OiS  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

that  they  can  not  be  explained  as  intrinsic  in  human  nature,  nor  is 
it  Hkely  that  the  parallelism  is  accidental. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  entire  Western  civilisation  may 
be  traced  to  one  common  source.  The  Egyptians,  the  Greeks,  and 
the  Romans  have  inherited  their  mathematics,  the  division  of  the 

^oro  cof  ititn^efF4tet  tntxch 
loannem  Keppterum 
1608. 


vm. 


WALLENSTEIN  S  HOROSCOPE.  *®*^ 

Credibly  ascribed  to  Kepler. 

day  into  twice  twelve  hours,  and  their  calendars  from  ancient  Baby- 
lonia, the  influence  of  which  has  been  preserved  down  to  modern 
times,  and  can  most  palpably  be  recognised  in  astrology. 

Astrology  is  unquestionably  of  Babylonian  origin.     It  rests  on 


ZODIACS   OF  DIFFERENT   NATIONS. 


89 


the  theory  that  the  universe  is  a  well-ordained  whole  governed  by 
universal  laws,  and  so  the  ancient  sages  assumed  that  life  on  earth 
is  foreshadowed  by  the  events  in  the  celestial  regions ;  and  these 
notions  adhered  to  the  further  development  of  astronomy  with  a 
persistence  that  is  truly  surprising. 

Even  as  late  as  the  fourteenth  century  astronomers  were  still 


MEXICAN  CALENDAR  WHEEL. 


4504 


obliged  to  eke  out  a  scant  living  with  the  help  of  astrology,  and 
Kepler  himself  had  to  increase  his  means  of  subsistence  by  casting 
horoscopes.  But  he  was  great  enough  to  take  the  situation  humor- 
ously, and  in  one  of  his  letters  we  read:  "This  astrology  is  indeed 
a  foolish  little  daughter,  but — lieber  Gott! — where  would  her 
mother,  the  highly  rational  astronomy,  be,  if  she  did  not  have  this 


90 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


foolish  offspring?  People  are  even  more  foolish,  so  foolish  in  fact, 
that  this  sensible  old  mother  must  for  her  own  benefit  cajole  and 
deceive  them  through  her  daughter's  foolish,  idle  talk."* 

Europe  has  inherited  its  calendar  with  many  incidental  notions 
and  superstitions  from  ancient  Babylon.  But  back  of  the  inter- 
connection in  historic  ages  there  must  have  been  a  very  intimate 
exchange  of  thought  between  the  incipient  civilisations  of  primitive 
China,  of  Babylon,  and  also  of  the  American  Maya.  The  American 
Maya  must  have  brought  many  ideas  along  with  them  when  they 


CHINESE  ASSIGNMENT  OF  ANIMALS 


4224 


TO  PARTS  OF  THE  BODY. 


EUROPEAN    CONCEPTION   OF 
SIGNS  OF  THE  ZODIAC 


settled  in  their  new  home  which  testifies  to  the  hoariness  of  their 
culture. 

At  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  America  they  were  far  behind 
the  Spaniards  in  the  art  of  warfare,  but  they  were  their  superiors 
in  a  proper  calculation  of  the  calendar.  They  divided  their  year 
into  eighteen  epochs  of  twenty  days  each  with  five  intercalary  days, 
but  they  knew  also  that  this  calculation  was  only  approximate  and 
had  the  difference  adjusted  before  Pope  Gregory's  reform  of  the 
Julian  calendar.  But  the  point  we  wish  to  make  here  is  not  concerned 
with  the  sundry  accomplishments  of  the  Maya,  but  the  remarkable 

*  See  Carus  Sterne's  article  "Copernicus,  Tycho  Brahe,  and  Kepler,"  The 
Open  Court,  XIV,  405. 


ZODIACS   OF   DIFFERENT    NATIONS. 


91 


similarities  of  detail  between  their  symbolism  and  that  of  mediaeval 
Europe  as  well  as  China. 

In  our  researches  we  have  never  entered  deeply  into  compara- 
tive astronomy,  but  judging  from  suggestions  of  scholars  who  have 


\^'/ 

^-r- 


\ 

M 

III 

ini 

>:& 

V 

VI 

VII 

VMl 

vmi 

X 

XI 

XII 

XIII 

XllU 

XV 

XXVII« 
XXv/iit 
XXvnili 
XXX     • 


ROMAN   CALENDAR  STONE   IN   THE   MUSEUM   AT  WURZBURG. 
From  Weltall  und  Menschheit,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  19. 

[The  deities  presiding  over  the  seven  days  of  the  week  are  pic- 
tured on  the  top :  Saturn  for  Saturday  with  sickle  in  hand ;  Mithra  the 
sun-god,  for  Sunday;  Diana,  the  moon-goddess,  for  Monday;  Mars, 
(the  Teutonic  Tiu)  for  Tuesday;  Mercury  (the  Teutonic  Wodan)  for 
Wednesday;  Jupiter  (the  Teutonic  Thor)  for  Thursday;  Venus 
(Teutonic  Frigga  or  Freya)  for  Friday.  The  circle  represents  the 
crude  picture  of  the  zodiac  beginning  at  the  top  with  Aries,  and  run- 
ning around  to  the  left,  each  sign  being  accompanied  by  the  initial  of 
its  name.] 

made  a  specialty  of  this  interesting  branch  of  human  lore,  we  can 
say  positively  that  the  Babylonian  origin  of  the  division  and  names 
of  the  zodiac  has  been  firmly  established.  Prof.  Franz  Boll  has  col- 
lected all  pertinent  material  of  Greek  texts  and  also  illustrations  of 
several  ancient  representations  of  the  starry  heavens  in  his  book, 


92 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


Sphaera,  neue  griechische  Texte  und  Untersuchungen  cur  Geschichte 
der  Sternbildcr  (Leipsic,  Teubner,  1903).  He  also  refers  to  the 
method  prevalent  in  Eastern  Asia,  of  counting  hours,  months,  and 


2038       KUDURRU  OF  NAZI   MARADAH,   KING  OF  BABYLON,  SON  OF       ^°39 

KURIGALZAR   II. 

[Most  of  the  emblems  are  the  same  as  in  the  preceding  illustra- 
tion except  that  the  goddess  Gula  is  here  represented  in  full  figure  in 
a  typical  attitude  with  both  hands  raised.] 

years  by  the  duodenary  system  of  animals  and  points  out  its  simi- 
larities to  the  Babylonian  system  (pp.  326  f?.).     Our  own  investi- 


ZODIACS   OF  DIFFERENT   NATIONS. 


93 


STAR  EMBLEMS  REPRESENTING  BABYLONIAN  DEITIES. 
CAP  OF  A   KUDURRU. 


2031 


[We  see  on  the  top  sun,  moon,  and  planet  Venus,  representing  the 
Babylonian  trinity  of  Shamash,  Sin,  and  Istar.  These  three  symbols 
are  surrounded  to  the  right  of  the  moon  by  the  lamp  of  the  god 
Nusku,  a  goose-like  bird,  the  scorpion,  a  double-headed  symbol  of  un- 
known significance,  a  loop-like  emblem  and  a  stake  bearing  a  tablet. 
The  outer  margin  shows  on  the  top  the  emblem  of  the  ancient  god 
Ea,  a  goat  ending  in  a  fish,  a  throne  and  a  ram-headed  mace;  then 
turning  to  the  right,  we  have  the  emblem  of  Marduk,  a  lance  on  a 
throne  and  the  dragon  Tiamat;  further  down  an  eagle  (or  a  falcon) 
perched  on  a  forked  pole,  a  dog  (or  lion),  two  thrones  with  tiaras 
resting  on  them,  and  another  throne,  beside  it  lying  an  unknown  scaled 
monster.  The  forked  tree  is  the  symbol  of  the  goddess  Nidaba,  a 
form  of  Istar  as  the  harvest  goddess.  The  same  deity  is  sometimes 
represented  by  an  ear  of  wheat,  in  Hebrew  shibboleth  (from  shabal, 
"to  go  forth,  to  sprout,  to  grow")  ;  and  judging  from  the  pictures  on 
the  monuments,  worshipers  carried  ears  of  wheat  in  their  hands  on  the 
festival  of  the  goddess.  It  is  the  same  word  which  was  used  by  Jeph- 
tha  of  Gilead  to  recognise  the  members  of  the  tribe  of  Ephraim  who 
pronounced  it  sibboleth,  because  they  were  unaccustomed  to  the  sibi- 
lant sh  (Judges  xii.  6).  From  shibboleth  the  Latin  word  Sybilla,  the 
name  of  the  prophetess,  the  author  of  the  Sybilline  oracles,  is  derived. 
Nidaba's  star  is  Spica  (i.  e.,  "ear  of  wheat,")  the  brightest  star  in  the 
constellation  Virgo,  i.  e.,  the  virgin  goddess  Istar.] 


94  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

gations  corroborate  Professor  Boll's  theory,  and  we  owe  to  him  a 
number  of  the  illustrations  here  reproduced. 

We  complete  the  circle  of  evidences  as  to  early  prehistoric  con- 
nections, by  furnishing  additional  instances  of  pictures  of  the  zodiac 
among  other  nations,  that  have  been  isolated  for  thousands  of  years. 

The  names  of  our  own  zodiac  are  commemorated  in  a  couplet 
of  two  Latin  hexameters  as  follows: 

"Sunt  Aries  Taurus  Gemini  Cancer  Leo  Virgo 
Lihraque  Scorpius^  Arcitenus^  Caper^  Amphora*  Pisces, 

or  in  English:  (i)  the  Ram,  (2)  the  Bull,  (3)  the  Twins,  (4)  the 
Crab,  (5)  the  Lion,  (6)  the  Virgin,  (7)  the  Balance,  (8)  the  Scor- 
pion, (9)  the  Archer,  (10)  the  Goat,  (11)  the  Vase  or  Water-man, 
and  (12)  the  Fishes. 

All  the  zodiacs,  together  with  their  divisions  into  constellations, 
must  have  one  common  origin  which  can  only  have  been  in  Babylon, 
the  home  of  ancient  astronomy.  We  possess  among  the  cuneiform 
inscriptions  of  the  first  or  second  century  B.  C.  some  astronomical 
tablets  which  contain  an  enumeration  of  the  Babylonian  zodiac  in 
abbreviations.     They  read  as  follows:^ 


I.  Hf  (ku(sarikku)) 

=  aries. 

2.  -^y  {te(mennu)) 

=r  taurus. 

3-  +  +  (^'^M 

=  gemini. 

4.  tH<  (Julukku) 

=  cancer. 

5'  n  (^^) 

=  leo. 

6.  m-  (ser^) 

=   virgo. 

7.  ^J  {zibanitu) 

=  libra. 

8.  »♦  JEl  (agrabu) 

=  Scorpio. 

9.  *  if^) 

=  arcitenens. 

«o-  141  (<?«^«) 

=   caper. 

11.  '^^  (gu) 

=   amphora  [aquarius]. 

13.     /^    (Zib) 

=  pisces. 

^  "Scorpius"  is  commonly  called  Scorpio;  the  change  in  the  ending  is  ob- 
viously made  on  account  of  the  meter  of  the  verse. 
^Also  commonly  called  Sagittarius. 
^  Also  known  under  the  name  Capricorn. 
*  Also  named  Aquarius. 


ZODIACS   OF  DIFFERENT   NATIONS.  95 

The  identity  of  this  series  with  our  own  and  other  zodiacs  is 
most  striking  in  the  beginning,  which  Hke  our  own  series  starts 
with  "The  Ram,"  "The  Bull,"  and  "The  Twins." 

The  constellations  as  represented  on  our  modern  globes  are 
so  outlined  as  to  make  the  figures  of  the  symbols  cover  the  area 
of  the  stars,  and  the  illustrators  have  adroitly  utilised  the  stars  as 
part  of  the  picture.  This  method  is  according  to  an  ancient  tradi- 
tion which  can  be  traced  back  to  antiquity  and  has  produced  the 
impression  that  the  names  of  the  constellations  are  due  to  the  con- 
figuration of  the  stars.  But  while  it  is  true  that  such  names  as 
"Charles's  Wain"  or  "the  Wagon"  (in  China  called  "the  Bushel," 
in  America  "the  Dipper")  is  a  name  apparently  invented  on  account 
of  the  configuration  of  the  stars,  the  same  does  not  hold  good  for 
other  constellations  and  least  of  all  for  the  signs  of  the  zodiac.  In 
ancient  Babylon,  or  even  in  ancient  Akkad,  certain  names  in  the 
starry  heavens  were  sacred  to  certain  deities,  and  the  names  repre- 
sented the  several  deities  that  presided  over  that  part  of  the  heavens. 
We  must  assume  that  in  most  cases  the  picture  of  a  stellar  configu- 
ration is  a  mere  afterthought  of  the  artist  who  tried  to  trace  in  it 
the  deity  or  its  symbol.  We  have  in  the  zodiac  and  its  names  a 
grand  religious  world-conception  which  regards  the  entire  cosmos 
as  dominated  by  divine  law,  finding  expression  in  divine  power 
dominant  according  to  a  fixed  constitution  of  the  universe,  render- 
ing prominent  in  different  periods  definite  divine  influences  repre- 
sented as  gods  or  archangels  of  some  kind.  Among  them  we 
notice  one  who  appears  as  the  omnipotent  highest  ruler,  whose 
rank  is  analogous  to  a  king  of  kings,  for  he  governs  the  whole 
celestial  world,  and  this  highest  ruler  has  been  represented  by  dif- 
ferent nations  in  different  ways,  and  by  kindred  nations  who  fol- 
lowed kindred  ideas  in  a  kindred  way.  Thus  we  find  the  similarity 
of  the  highest  god  among  the  Assyrians  and  the  Persians,  and  a 
close  examination  of  the  post-Exilic  tendencies  of  Jewish  history  in- 
dicates that  the  Asur  of  the  Assyrians  so  similar  to  Ahura  Mazda  of 
the  Persians,  is  in  all  main  features  the  same  as  Yahveh  of  the  Jews. 

°  See  Epping  and  Strassmaier,  Zeitschrift  fiir  Assyriologie,  Vol.  V,  Fas- 
cicle 4  (Oct.  1890,  p.  351). 


■96  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

The  idea  that  celestial  conditions  govern  all  earthly  events  is 
brought  out  very  strongly  in  the  Assyrian  standards,  which  show 
the  highest  god  Asur  in  the  most  conspicuous  place,  and  in  com- 
paring his  effigy  to  representations  of  Asur  on  the  monuments,  as 
well  as  to  the  modern  illustrations  of  Sagittarius,  we  will  be  im- 
pressed with  a  strong  similarity  in  these  pictures.     The  Assyrian 


ANCIENT  ASSYRIAN  STANDARD.  4364 

standards  commonly  show  Asur  as  standing  above  a  bull.  One 
very  elaborate  standard  exhibits  in  addition  to  the  god  Asur,  three 
symbols  of  the  zodiac,  which  for  some  unknown  reason,  perhaps 
simply  for  the  sake  of  symmetry,  are  duplicated.  There  are  two 
streams  of  water,  two  bulls,  and  two  lion  heads,  and  it  is  scarcely 
an  accident  that  these  symbols  represent  the  Colures  in  about  3500 


ZODIACS   OF  DIFFERENT   NATIONS. 


97 


B.  C.  In  the  middle  of  the  fourth  millennium  B.  C.  the  solstitial 
Colures  lay  in  Aquarius  and  Leo,  and  the  equinoctial  Colures  in 
Taurus  and  Scorpio.^ 

If  the  god  Asur,  who  is  represented  as  an  archer,  stands  for 


Sagittarius,  we  may  assume  that  the  two  signs,  Sagittarius  and 
Scorpio  were  originally  one  and  became  differentiated  later  on.  We 
shall  present  reasons,  further  down,  which  will  make  this  assumption 
probable. 


"  See  also  Plunket,  Ancient  Calendars  and  Constellations,  Plate  VIII. 


98 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


Is  it  perhaps  a  reminiscence  of  kindred  traditions  when  Mithra 
is  pictured  in  the  Mithraic  monuments  as  slaying  the  divine  bull? 
We  notice  in  every  one  of  the  Mithra  pictures  the  scorpion  attacking 
the  bull  simultaneously  with  Mithra,  and  depriving  him  of  his 
power  of  fecundation.  Scorpio  stands  in  opposition  to  Taurus  and 
in  winter  nature  loses  its  productivity.  The  same  idea  is  suggested 
in  the  illustration  of  the  crab  on  the  kudurru  pictured  on  page  io6. 


ZODIAC  OF  DENDERA. 


4243 


As  to  the  identification  of  the  Assyrian  god  Asur  with  the 
Persian  Ahura,  we  will  incidentally  say  that  Professor  Hommel 
goes  so  far  as  to  maintain  that  Asur  is  merely  the  Assyrian  pro- 
nunciation of  the  Elamitic  **Ahura,"  and  corroborates  his  state- 
ment by  other  examples.  The  Honorable  Emmeline  Mary  Plunket 
makes  this  view  her  own  and  argues  with  great  plausibility  that 


ZODIACS   OF  DIFFERENT   NATIONS. 


99 


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lOO 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


an  Elamite  or  Aryan  race  might  have  been  in  possession  of  Assyria 
at  the  time  before  the  Semitic  wave  crowded  the  Elamites  back 
farther  north,  and  the  Semitic  settlers  worshiped  the  god  of  the 
country  in  order  to  pacify  his  anger  and  keep  on  good  terms  with 
him.    We  know  that  in  the  same  way  the  settlers  of  Samaria  wor- 


THE  CONSTELLATION  OF  THE  HAUNCH.* 


i^^tiJifvWZ-iC^S-r 


ORION,  THE  SPARROW  HAWK  AND  THE  COW  SOTHIS.  *^"" 

shiped  the  god  of  the  Israelites  in  addition  to  their  own  gods,  so 
as  not  to  offend  the  divine  power  that  governed  the  land. 

The  constellations  of  the  zodiac  were  not  invented  simulta- 


*  Reproduced  from  Maspero,  Dawn  of  Civilisation, 


lOI 


ZODIACS  OF  DIFFERENT   Ni^]ei^i>^^    ';  . 

neously  with  the  division  of  the  ecHptIc,«iiitO;>,wblve',Hiknd6ti'^/&r 
many  constellations  of  the  ancient  ecliptic  are  very  irregular  and 


LATE  ROMAN   EGYPTIAN    MARBLE   PLAQUE.*  4243 

[The  center  represents  Apollo  and  Phoebe,  the  former  with  a  solar 
halo,  the  latter  crowned  with  a  crescent.  Surrounding  this  are  two 
circles  of  twelve  mansions  each,  the  outer  circle  containing  the  signs 
of  the  Greek  zodiac,  and  the  inner  the  corresponding  signs  of  the 
Egyptian  zodiac.  Beginning  at  the  top  the  pictures  run  to  the  left  as 
follows:  Aries,  cat  (inner  circle);  Taurus,  jackal;  Gemini,  serpent; 
Cancer,  scarab ;  Leo,  ass ;  Virgo,  lion ;  Libra,  goat ;  Scorpio,  cow ; 
Sagittarius,  falcon;  Capricorn,  baboon;  Aquarius,  ibis;  Pisces,  croco- 
dile.] 

reach  in  their  bulk  either  above  or  below  the  exact  path  of  the  sun. 
In  fact,  Eudoxus,  Aratus,  and  Hipparchus  do  not  enumerate  twelve, 

*  Described  by  J.  Daressy,  Recueil  de  travaux  rel.  a  la  philol,  et  a  I'arch 
Egypt,  et  Assyr.,  XXIII,  126  f. 


ZODIACS   OF  DIFFERENT   NATIONS.  IO3 

but  only  eleven  constellations  of  the  zodiac,  and  it  seems  that  Libra, 
the  Balance,  is  a  later  addition ;  and  yet  this  change  also  is  commonly 
supposed  to  have  come  from  Babylon.  We  must  conclude  therefore 
that  the  constellations  among  the  starry  heavens  were  mapped  out 
without  special  reference  to  the  ecliptic,  and  are  older.  The  irregu- 
larity of  the  Chinese  constellations  along  the  ecliptic,  accordingly, 
would  go  far  to  prove  that  their  names  must  have  been  imported 
into  China  before  the  ecliptic  had  finally  been  regulated  into  twelve 
equal  mansions,  each  of  30  degrees. 

Babylonian  wisdom  migrated  in  both  directions,  toward  the 
east  to  China,  and  toward  the  west  to  Europe.  It  must  have  reached 
China  at  an  early  date  in  prehistoric  times,  and  it  has  come  down 
to  us  from  the  Greeks  who  in  their  turn  received  their  information 
second  hand  through  the  Egyptians. 

At  every  stage  in  this  continuous  transfer  of  ideas,  the  mytho- 
logical names  were  translated  into  those  that  would  best  correspond 
to  them.  Istar  changed  to  Venus,  or  Virgo;  Bel  Marduk  to  Zeus 
and  Jupiter,  and  among  the  Teutons  to  Thor  or  Donar,  etc. 

During  the  Napoleonic  expedition  some  interesting  represen- 
tations of  the  zodiac  were  discovered  in  the  temple  of  the  great 
Hathor  at  Dendera.  They  are  not  as  old  as  was  supposed  in  the 
first  enthusiasm  of  their  discovery  for  they  were  finished  only  under 
the  first  years  of  Nero;  but  they  well  represent  the  astronomical 
knowledge  in  Egypt  which  looks  back  upon  a  slow  development  for 
many  centuries.  We  notice  in  the  transition  of  the  zodiac  from 
Babylon  to  Egypt,  and  from  Egypt  to  Greece,  several  changes  of 
names  which  are  still  unexplained.  Sirius  is  identified  with  Orion, 
and  the  Great  Bear  with  Typhon,  etc. 

The  Hindu'*'  and  the  Arabian  zodiacs  are  practically  the  same 
as  ours,  but  the  Chinese  zodiac  shows  some  deyiations  which,  how- 
ever, are  too  inconsiderable  not  to  show  plainly  a  common  origin 
of  the  whole  nomenclature. 

The  Arabian  magic  mirror,  here  reproduced,  exhibits  the  twelve 
symbols  of  the  zodiac  in  the  outer  circle,  and  the  angels  of  the  seven 
planets  which  preside  also  over  the  seven  days  of  the  week,  appear 

*For  an  illustration  and  description  of  the  Hindu  zodiacs  see  page  75. 


I04 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


in  the  inner  circle.    The  center  where  we  would  expect  some  emblem 
of  the  sun  shows  the  picture  of  an  owl. 

It  is  interesting  to  see  how  sometimes  the  external  shape  of  a 
figure  is  preserved,  sometimes  the  name.  We  find  for  instance 
the  Archer  (called  Sagittarius  or  Arcitenus)  represented  as  a  double- 


ANCIENT  ARABIAN  ZODIAC    (13th   CENT.)  ^^^^ 

[Engraved  on  a  magic  mirror.  Dedicated  as  the  inscription  reads 
"To  the  Sovereign  Prince  Abulfald,  Victorious  Sultan,  Light  of  the 
World."] 

headed  centaur  drawing  a  bow  in  almost  the  same  outlines  on  an 
ancient  Babylonian  kudurru,  as  in  modern  charts  of  the  heavens. 
And  it  is  noteworthy  that  in  Greece,  too,  this  centaur,  in  a  note  of 
Teukros,  is  spoken  of  a  two-faced  (StTrpoo-wTros).  In  the  same  way 
the  scorpion-man  holds  the  bow,  and  he  again  resembles  the  out- 


ZODIACS   OF  DIFFERENT   NATIONS.  IO5 

lines  of  the  scorpion,  so  as  to  indicate  that  the  bow  has  taken  the 
place  of  the  claws.  Notice  further  that  the  ancient  picture  of  the 
Babylonian  Sagittarius  possesses  two  tails,  one  like  that  of  a  horse, 
the  other  of  the  same  form  as  that  of  both  the  scorpion-man  and 
the  scorpion.  All  this  suggests  that  the  two  emblems,  Sagittarius 
and  Scorpio  which  are  neighbors  in  the  zodiac,  may  originally  have 
been  one  and  were  differentiated  in  the  course  of  time,  in  order 
to  make  the  mansions  of  equal  length. 

In  this  connection  we  would  also  remind  our  readers  of  the 
obvious  similarity  between  the  picture  of  the  god  Asur  and  Sagit- 
tarius. But  even  differences  are  instructive  and  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  they  suggest  prehistoric  connections  between  the  far 
East  and  the  West. 

The  symbol  of  the  ancient  god  Ea  is  a  goat  terminating  in  a 


THE  EMBLEM  OF  EA.  4i98 

[Babylonian  Symbol  of  Capricorn.] 

fish.  The  corresponding  sign  of  the  zodiac  which  in  Europe  is  re- 
garded as  a  goat  and  called  Caper  or  Capricorn,  is  considered  a  fish 
in  China  and  called  "the  Dolphin."  In  a  similar  way  the  division 
of  the  zodiac  that  was  originally  connected  with  the  annual  inun- 
dation in  Babylonia,  is  called  either  Aquarius  or  Amphora  and  is 
represented  in  the  Chinese  zodiac  as  a  vase ;  in  Western  charts  as 
a  man  holding  an  urn  pouring  forth  water. 

The  astronomical  knowledge  of  Babylon  migrated  west  by  way 
of  Egypt  and  Greece,  to  modern  Europe,  and  on  its  way  east  it  must 
have  reached  China  at  a  very  early  date. 

It  is  not  our  intention  to  follow  here  all  the  changes  which  the 
zodiac  underwent  in  different  countries.  It  is  sufficient  to  call  atten- 
tion to  the  undeniable  similarity  of  all  of  them.     It  would  take 


io6 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


the  concentration  of  a  specialist  for  every  change  to  point  otit  the 
modifications  which  the  several  signs  underwent  in  their  transference 


SAGITTARIUS   AND    SCORPIO    ON    A    BABYLONIAN    KUBURRU. 


SCORPION-MAN   AND   SCORPION. 


4241 


from  place  to  place  and  from  nation  to  nation.     One  instance  will 
be  sufficient  to  show  how  the  names  with  their  peculiar  associations 


ZODIACS   OF  DIFFERENT   NATIONS.  IO7 

affected  the  interpretation  of  the  several  constellations  among  the 
different  nations. 

Cancer  was  called  "the  scarab"  by  the  Egyptians,  and  was  en- 
dowed with  special  sanctity  for  the  deep  religious  significance  of 
the  scarab  in  Egypt  is  well  known. 

The  scarab  (ateuchus  sacer)  is  an  Egyptian  bug  which  belongs 
to  the  same  family  as  our  June  bug,  the  cockchafer,  and  the  tumble- 
bug.  In  habits  it  is  most  like  the  latter,  for  like  her  the  female 
scarab  deposits  her  eggs  in  a  lump  of  mud  which  she  reduces  to  the 
shape  of  a  ball.  The  ancient  Egyptians  did  not  distinguish  between 
the  male  and  the  female  scarab,  and  had  not  watched  how  they 
deposited  and  laid  their  eggs,  so  it  happened  that  when  they  wit- 
nessed the  mysterious  bug  rolling  a  mud  ball  along  the  road,  they 
were  under  the  impression  that  the  scarab  renewed  his  existence  by 
some  mysterious  means,  and  possessed  the  divine  power  of  resur- 
rection from  the  dust  of  the  earth.  Accordingly  the  scarab  became 
in  Egyptian  mythology  the  symbol  of  creation  and  immortality. 
The  sacredness  of  the  symbol  was  for  a  long  time  preserved  in  the 
ancient  Christian  churches,  for  Christ  is  repeatedly  called  "the 
Scarab." 

The  passages  on  the  subject  have  been  collected  by  Mr.  Isaac 
Myer,  who  says:® 

"After  the  Christian  era  the  influence  of  the  cult  of  the  scarab 
was  still  felt.  St.  Ambrose,  Archbishop  of  Milan,  calls,  Jesus,  The 
good  Scarabseus,  who  rolled  up  before  him  the  hitherto  unshapen 
mud  of  our  bodies.'^^  St.  Epiphanius  has  been  quoted  as  saying 
of  Christ:  'He  is  the  Scarabseus  of  God,'  and  indeed  it  appears 
likely  that  what  may  be  called  Christian  forms  of  the  scarab,  yet 
exist.  One  has  been  described  as  representing  the  crucifixion  of 
Jesus.  It  is  white  and  the  engraving  is  green,  and  on  the  back  are 
two  palm  branches.  Many  others  have  been  found  apparently  en- 
graved with  the  Latin  cross."^^ 

While  the  Babylonian,  or  rather  Akkadian,  origin  of  the  Chi- 


"  Scarabs.    London :  D.  Nntt. 

^^  Works,  Paris,  1686.     Vol.  I,  c-»l.   1528,  No.   113.     Egyptian  Mythology 
and  Egyptian  Christianity.     By  Samuel  Sharpe,  London,  1863,  p.  3. 
"/4n  Essay  on  Scarabs,  by  W.  J.  Loftie,  B.A.,  F.SA.,  pp.  58,  59. 


io8 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


nese  zodiac  must  be  regarded  as  an  established  fact,  we  can  not  deny 
that  it  possesses  some  peculiarities  of  its  own. 

The   Chinese   begin   the   enumeration   of   their   zodiac  with   a 


t  A^*f?J 


tm^n 


tiafti<?i 


E 


E 


ttfiM* 


tl  V.  A 


E 


t\m¥^ 


CHINESE   ZODIAC. 


constellation  called  "Twin  Women/'  which  corresponds  to  our  Virgo, 
whence  they  count  in  an  inverse  order,  (2)  the  Lion,  (3)  the  Crab, 
(4)   Man  and  Woman   (answering  to  our  Gemini),  (5)   the  Bull, 


ZODIACS   OF  DIFFERENT   NATIONS. 


109 


(6)  the  Ram,  (7)  the  Fishes,  (8)  the  Dolphin  {Capricorn),  (9) 
the  Vase  {Aquarius),  (10)  the  Bow  {Sagittarius),  (11)  the  Scor- 
pion, and  (12)  the  Balance. 


t'-   i- 


t\M-^¥^ 


tlf^^lv 


H 


ti^^tu 


t 


%mhtii\ 


I'^-^J^/C^ 


ft  f  I  »^ 


n; 


CHINESE  ZODIAC. 


It  is  noteworthy  that  the  Chinese  and  Hindu  zodiacs  agree  in 
representing  Gemini  as  a  man  and  woman,  while  in  all  Western 


no 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


almanacs  they  are  represented  as  brothers  which  is  probably  due 
to  their  identification  with  Castor  and  Pollux. 

The  zodiac  corresponds  closely  to  the  twelve  mansions  of  the 
ecliptic  which  are  called  in  China  as  follows: 


I- mm 


6.  H  M        9.^  ;f?. 


10.  M  IE. 

n.  7c  n. 


12. 


#• 


These  names  in  a  literal  translation  mean: 

1.  Descending  misfortune,  7.  Longevity  star, 

2.  Large  beam,  8.  Great  fire, 


3.  Kernel  sunk, 

4.  Quail's  head, 

5.  Quail's  fire, 

6.  Quail's  tail, 

SOUTH 


9.  Split  wood, 

10.  Stellar  era, 

11.  Original  hollow, 

12.  Bride  defamed. 


THE  TWELVE  BRANCHES  AND  TWELVE 

ANIMALS  REPRESENTING  THE 
<2o6  TWELVE  MANSIONS. 


CHINESE  COIN   REPRESENTING 
SYMBOLS  OF  THE  FOUR 

QUARTERS.*  ^207 


We  have  translated  these  names  for  the  convenience  of  the 
English  reader,  but  must  warn  him  that  their  significance  has 
nothing  to  do  with  either  the  astronomical  or  astrological  meaning 
of  these  terms. 

*  We  will  add  that  the  usual  way  of  symbolising  the  four  quarters  is-  east 
by  the  azure  dragon,  north  by  the  sombre  warrior,  south  by  the  vermillion 
bird,  and  west  by  the  white  tiger.    Compare  Mayers,  Ch.  R.  M.  II,  91. 


ZODIACS  OF  DIFFERENT   NATIONS. 


Ill 


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112  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

The  twelve  mansions  as  well  as  the  twelve  double-hours  are 
closely  related  to  the  twelve  animals,  the  rat  representing  north,  or 
midnight;  the  goat,  south;  the  hare,  east;  the  cock,  west. 

The  Chinese,  like  the  Babylonians,  divide  the  day  into  double 
hours  which  according  to  the  notions  of  Chinese  occultism  have 
definite  relations  to  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac  and  the  twelve 
mansions  of  the  ecliptic,  as  explained  in  the  adjoined  table. 

It  seems  strange  to  us  that  the  wise  men  of  the  prehistoric  ages 
in  Babylonia  and  Egypt,  in  China  and  Central  America,  troubled 
themselves  so  much  about  the  zodiac  and  the  calendar,  but  we  will 
understand  their  solicitude  when  we  consider  that  their  world- 
conception  was  based  upon  the  idea  of  cosmic  law.  They  thought 
that  the  universe  was  dominated  by  conditions  which  were  pre- 
determined by  the  events  that  took  place  in  the  starry  heavens  and 
would  in  some  way  be  repeated  in  this  and  the  nether  world.  This 
was  the  bottom  rock  on  which  rested  their  religion,  their  philosophy, 
and  their  ethics.  The  polytheistic  mythology  is  merely  the  poetic 
exterior  of  this  view,  and  the  astrological  superstitions  that  grow 
from  it,  its  wild  excrescences.  We  need  not  be  blind  to  the  many 
errors  and  absurdities  of  the  ancient  occultism  to  understand  and 
grant  the  truth  that  underlies  its  system.  This  fundamental  truth 
is  the  universality  of  law ;  a  firm  belief  that  the  world  is  a  cosmos, 
an  orderly  whole  dominated  by  definite  leading  principles ;  the  con- 
viction that  our  destiny,  the  fate  of  both  nations  and  individuals 
is  not  a  product  of  chance,  but  determined  according  to  a  divine 
plan  in  systematic  regularity. 

Occultism  may  now  be  an  aberration,  a  survival  of  antiquated 
views,  but  there  was  a  time  when  it  was  the  stepping-stone  of  primi- 
tive man  to  a  higher  and  deeper  and  truer  interpretation  of  the 
world. 

We  would  not  possess  astronomy  to-day  had  not  our  ancestors 
been  given  to  astrology,  and  in  the  same  way  all  our  science,  phi- 
losophy and  religion  has  grown  out  of  the  past  and  we  are  more 
indebted  to  the  half-truths  of  the  antiquated  world-conception  than 
we  are  commonly  inclined  to  admit. 


A  THRONELESS  KING  AND  HIS  EMPIRE. 

CONFUCIUS. 

'T^HE  moral  teacher  of  China,  the  man  who  gave  definite  form 
-*-  to  Chinese  ethics  and  has  molded  the  character  of  the  nation,  was 
K'lmg-tze,  or  K'ung  fu  tze,  which  has  been  Latinised  into  ''Con- 
fucius." The  word  K'ung  (which  literally  translated  means  "hole") 
is  his  family  name,  tse  designates  him  as  a  philosopher,  while  fu 
is  a  title  of  respect. 

Confucius  was  born  in  the  year  550  B.  C.^  in  Tsou,  a  township 
of  the  district  of  Ch'ang-Ping,  which  is  the  modern  Szu  Shui  in 
the  province  Shantung.-  He  is  descended  from  a  distinguished 
family  of  officers.^  His  great  grandfather  had  come  from  the  state 
Sung  during  a  feud  with  a  powerful  enemy,  to  seek  refuge  in  the 
state  Lu,  and  his  father  whose  full  name  was  K'ung  Shu  Liang  Ho, 
having  had  nine  daughters  from  his  first  wife  and  a  crippled  son 
from  a  concubine,  married  again  at  the  advanced  age  of  seventy 

^According  to  Sse  Ma  T'sien,  Confucius  was  born  in  the  twenty-second 
year  of  duke  Hsiang  of  Lu,  which  is  the  year  550  B.  C.  This  statement  is 
adopted  by  Chu  Hsi  in  his  Biography  of  Confucius  which  prefaces  the  stand- 
ard edition  of  the  Lun  Yii,  but  there  is  no  unanimity  as  to  the  exact  date  for 
the  commentators  Ku'  Liang  and  Kung  Yang  place  his  birth  in  the  year  552 
B.  C,  and  even  they  do  not  agree  as  to  the  month.  Ku'  Liang  states  that 
Confucius  was  born  on  the  twenty-first  day  of  the  tenth  month  of  the  twenty- 
first  year  of  the  Duke  Hsiang  of  Lu,  which  was  the  twentieth  year  of  the 
Emperor  Ling.  While  Kung  Yang  agrees  in  all  other  details,  he  states  that 
it  was  the  eleventh  and  not  the  tenth  month. 

''There  is  no  unanimity  as  to  the  place  of  Confucius's  birth.  At  present 
there  are  two  towns  that  make  rival  claims  for  the  honor.  The  other  one  not 
mentioned  in  the  text  is  Yen  Chou  also  situated  in  Shantung. 

^  Details  of  the  family  history  of  Confucius  are  reported  by  Legge  in  his 
edition  of  The  Chinese  Classics,  I,  pp.  56  ff. 


114 


CHINESE   THOUGHT. 


A  THRONELESS  KING  AND  HIS  EMPIRE. 

the  youngest  daughter  of  the  Yen  family,  called  Cheng  Tsai ;  and 
when  a  son  was  born  to  them,  they  called  him  Ch'iu,  i.  e.,  "hill," 
because,  as  the  legend  relates,  the  babe's  forehead  bulged  out  in 
a  hill-like  protuberance.  This  K'ung  Ch'iu  was  destined  to  become 
the  ideal  of  China,  Confucius. 

K'ung  Shu,  the  father,  died  three  years  after  the  birth  of  his 
son,  and  the  widow  moved  with  her  child  to  a  village  in  the  district 
Ch'ii  Fou. 

Many  stories  of  miraculous  occurrences  are  told  of  the  birth 
of  Confucius.  In  one  of  them  we  are  told  that  the  marvelous  ani- 
mal, called  Ihiy  brought  a  tablet  to  Cheng  Tsai,  the  sage's  mother, 
on  which  this  prophecy  was  written : 

"The  son  of  the  essence  of  water  [i.  e.,  the  principle  of  purity]  shall  come 
forth  at  the  decay  of  the  Chow  [dynasty]  and  he  shall  be  a  throneless  king." 

Most  of  the  birthstories  of  the  sage  are  of  later  origin  and 
show  Buddhist  influence.  They  were  invented  because  the  followers 
of  Confucius  did  not  want  to  see  their  founder  outdone  in  honors, 
and  so  they  vied  with  Buddhist  traditions  in  claiming  a  supernatural 
origin  for  their  great  sage  as  well. 

Nothing  is  known  of  the  childhood  of  Confucius  except  that 
he  was  distinguished  by  a  serious  disposition  and  showed  in  his 
games  an  extreme  fondness  for  rituals  and  ceremonies. 

At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  married,  and  when  a  son  was  born 
to  him  he  called  him  Li,  which  means  *'carp."  He  entered  public 
service  as  a  controller  of  public  graneries,  while  his  virtuous  deport- 
ment, his  admiration  of  the  ancient  sages,  and  his  inclination  to 
moralise,  attracted  general  attention  so  as  to  surround  him  with  a 
number  of  admirers  who  looked  up  to  him  as  their  master.  We  owe 
it  to  his  disciples  that  his  principles  and  moral  maxims  became 
known  to  posterity  and  were  cherished  by  the  Chinese  nation.  Con- 
fucius himself  never  wrote  a  work  on  his  doctrines,  and  he  character- 
ised himself  as  "a.  transmitter,  not  an  originator,"*  but  his  faithful 
disciples  compiled  a  book  of  reminiscences  which  they  published 
under  the  title  Lun  Yil,  "Conversations  and  Sayings,"  which  in 
the  English-speaking  world  is  best  known  as  Confucian  Analects. 

\4nalccts,  VII,  i. 


ii6 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


It  has  become  one  of  the  most  important  canonical  books  of  China 
and  is  regarded  as  a  rehable  authority  for  rules  of  conduct. 

In  527  Cheng  Tsai,  the  mother  of  Confucius,  died,  and  he  had 
both  his  parents  buried  together  in  Fang,  his  father's  former  home, 
under  one  tumulus. 

The  Confucian  Analects  are  not  a  systematic  treatise  on  ethics, 
but  have  the  appearance  of  mere  anecdotes,  being  sayings  of  the 
master,  mostly  introduced  by  the  simple  words  ''The  Master  said," 
and  sometimes  mentioning  the  occasion  on  which  certain  sayings 


CONFUCIUS  TEMPLE  AT  SHANGHAI. 


of  his  had  been  uttered.  Confucius  was  an  extremely  conservative 
man  and  his  ideal  lay  in  the  past.  The  great  patterns  of  conduct 
were  the  sages  of  yore,  and  he  selected  from  them  as  models  of 
conduct  the  most  famous  rulers,  such  as  Yao,  Shun,  the  Duke  of 
Chou,  and  King  Wan. 

Confucius  is  frequently  represented  as  a  rationalist  whose  re- 
ligion, if  it  may  be  called  so,  consisted  purely  of  practical  consider- 
ations of  life.  But  this  is  not  quite  true,  for  his  belief  in  mysticism 
is  fully  demonstrated  by  his  reverence  for  the  Yih  King,  the  canonical 


A  THRONELESS  KING  AND  HIS  EMPIRE.  W] J 

book  of  mystic  lore  of  China,  with  reference  to  which  he  said  in 
his  advanced  age:  ''If  some  years  could  be  added  to  my  life,  I  would 
give  fifty  of  them  to  the  study  of  the  Book  of  Changes,  for  then 
I  would  have  avoided  great  errors." 

Confucius  is  credibly  believed  to  be  the  author  of  an  appendix 
to  the  Yih  King,  the  Book  of  Changes,  called  "The  Ten  Wings," 
which  proves  that  this  ancient  document  was  to  him  as  enigmatical 
as  it  remained  to  all  succeeding  generations. 

In  order  to  study  the  archives  of  antiquity,  Confucius  went  to 
the  capital  of  the  empire,  the  city  of  Lo,  where  the  most  famous 
thinker  of  the  age,  Lao  Tan,  better  known  under  the  title  Lao  Tze 
(i.  e.,  "the  old  philosopher")  held  the  position  of  keeper  of  the 
archives.  The  story  has  it  that  these  two  great  representatives  of 
a  radically  opposed  conception  of  life  met  personally,  but  their 
interview  was  not  satisfactory  to  either.  Lao  Tze  insisted  on  sim- 
plicity of  the  heart  and  expected  that  manners  and  rituals  would 
adjust  themselves,  while  Confucius  proposed  to  train  mankind  to 
genuine  virtue  and  especially  to  filial  piety  by  punctilious  observ- 
ance of  the  rules  of  propriety.  The  interview  is  recorded  by  Ssu 
Ma  Hsien,  and  has  been  retold  with  literary  embellishments  by  the 
great  Taoist  litterateur  Chuang  Tze. 

Confucius  taught  the  Golden  Rule  in  these  words: 

/  so  pu  yii,  mo  shi  yii  jen. 

"What  ye  will  not  have  done  to  you,  do  ye  not  unto  others." 

The  fame  of  Confucius  had  gradually  spread  throughout  the 
country,  and  the  sovereign  of  his  native  state,  Duke  Ting  of  Lu, 
made  him  chief  magistrate  of  a  town  in  which  he  was  to  try  his 
principles  of  government.  Confucianists  claim  that  he  worked  a 
marvelous  reformation,  in  the  manners  of  the  people,  and  so  his 
sovereign  raised  him  to  a  higher  position,  entrusting  him  first  with 
the  ministry  of  works,  and  then  with  the  ministry  of  justice. 

In  his  fifty-seventh  year  Confucius  withdrew  from  public  office 
in  order  to  show  his  disapproval  of  the  conduct  of  his  sovereign. 
The  Confucianist  report  states  that  a  neighboring  prince,  the  Duke 


Il8  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

of  Ch'i,  envied  the  Duke  Ting  because  of  his  famous  minister,  and 
in  order  to  aHenate  his  affections  from  the  sage,  he  sent  to  the  court 
of  Lu  a  present  of  eighty  beautiful  maidens  and  thirty  spans  of 
horses,  thereby  reclaiming  Ting's  preference  for  sport  and  frivolities. 
The  resignation  of  the  sage  did  not,  however,  have  the  desired 
effect.  The  Duke  appointed  another  minister  of  justice  from  among 
the  great  number  of  office  seekers,  while  the  sage  now  traveled 
from  state  to  state  in  the  hope  of  finding  another  dignified  em- 
ployment as  adviser  to  a  ruler  who  would  venture  to  introduce  the 
principles  of  his  system  of  morality,  and  restore  the  ideal  of  China's 
glorious  past  in  his  government. 

The  time  of  his  travels  was  a  long  series  of  disappointments 
to  Confucius.  He  was  received  sometimes  with  honors  and  some- 
times with  indifference,  but  there  was  no  prince  who  was  willing  to 
give  him  the  desired  employment.  His  enforced  leisure  was  well 
utilised  in  literary  labors,  for  Confucius  collected  a  number  of 
writings  which  he  deemed  worthy  of  preservation.  They  con- 
stitute now  the  second  portion  of  the  canonical  scriptures  of  China, 
and  have  as  such  the  title  King,  i.  e.,  "canon,"  or  "authoritative 
books."  The  only  original  work  he  ever  composed  is  a  history  of 
his  native  state  beginning  in  the  year  y22  B.  C,  which  is  called 
"Spring  and  Autumn,"  being  a  poetical  title  to  indicate  the  suc- 
cession of  the  seasons  and  the  events  belonging  thereto.  He  was  not 
a  historian,  however,  for  he  simply  chronicled  successive  happen- 
ings without  pointing  out  their  historical  connection. 

The  older  Confucius  grew  the  more  disappointed  was  he  that 
his  life  should  have  been  spent  in  vain.  We  are  told  in  the  Lun  Yii 
that  he  said: 

"No  wise  ruler  rises ;  no  one  in  the  empire  will  make  me  his 
master.     My  time  has  come  to  die." 

Saddened  by  the  fact  that  his  moral  views  were  rejected  by  the 
princes  of  the  nation,  he  predicted  the  coming  of  turbulent  times 
and  civil  wars,  events  which  had  indeed  become  unavoidable  through 
the  degeneration  of  many  petty  courts  and  their  disregard  for  the 
welfare  of  the  people. 


A  THRONELESS  KING  AND  HIS  EMPIRE.  1 19 

Once  it  happened  (so  Kung  Yang  informs  us)^  that  a  strange 
creature  had  been  killed  on  a  hunt  of  the  Duke  Ai  of  Lu,  and  the 
sage  was  called  to  inspect  the  body  and  give  his  opinion.  Confucius 
declared  it  to  be  that  supernatural  animal  called  Lin,  the  appearance 
of  which  is  deemed  a  rare  occurrence.  In  his  despair  Confucius 
looked  upon  the  death  of  this  royal  beast  as  a  bad  omen  and  he 
exclaimed:  "My  teaching  is  finished  indeed."* 

It  is  pathetic  to  observe  the  sage's  despair  at  the  end  of  his 
career;  but  such  is  the  fate  of  reformers  and  this  saying  of  Con- 
fucius sounds  very  much  like  a  literal  version  of  Christ's  last  word, 
"It  is  finished!" 

Two  years  later  Confucius  felt  the  approach  of  his  end.  While 
he  walked  in  front  of  his  house  he  muttered  this  verse: 

^y^       ^'P*       5^  "Huge  mountains  wear  away. 

"       .^^       ^  Alas! 


Jl         ytv       MI  The  strongest  beams  decay 

^C       ^:==^       ^^  And  the  sage  like  grass 

•^     iS     ^S  ■'^^"^^  ^^^^'    ^^^^•" 


Alas! 


[The  original  is  quoted   from 
Li  Ki,  "The  Book  of  Ritual."] 


^       ^       ^ 

These  lines  of  complaint  are  the  Eli  Eli,  lama  sabachthani  of 
Confucius.  He  feels  forsaken  and  fears  that  his  work  has  been 
in  vain. 

Confucius  died  in  478  in  retirement,  and  his  faithful  followers 
built  a  tomb  over  his  remains,  mourning  on  the  spot  for  three  years. 
His  most  devoted  admirer,  Tze  Kung,  built  a  hut  and  lived  there 
for  three  years  longer. 

The  fame  of  Confucius  did  not  spread  beyond  a  limited  circle 
of  disciples  until  a  new  period  of  prosperity  began  to  dawn  on 
China,  which  took  place  in  the  rise  of  the  Han  dynasty.  Kao  Tsou, 
the  first  Han  emperor,  was  an  admirer  of  the  Confucian  ideal.  He 
visited  the  sage's  tomb  in  195  and  offered  there  sacrifices  to  his 
memory.  He  had  his  books  re-edited  and  ordered  them  to  be  care- 
fully preserved. 

"  Kung  Yang  is  one  of  the  three  commentators  of  Kung  Tse's  historical 
book  Spring  and  Autumn,  the  others  being  Tso  Chi  and  Ku  Liang. 

*  This  is  a  verbatim  translation  of  the  four  words  wu  tao  ch'iung  i. 


120  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

Further  honors  were  heaped  upon  Confucius  when  the  emperor 
Ping  Ti  had  a  temple  erected  to  his  memory  and  raised  him  to  the 
dignity  of  a  duke,  conferring  on  him  the  official  name,  "Duke  Ni, 
the  Perfect  and  Illustrious."  This  occurred  in  the  year  one  of  the 
Christian  era. 

In  739  the  Emperor  Hsiian  T'sung  canonised  him  under  the 
title  ''Prince  of  Illustrious  Learning"  and  made  him  the  object  of 
veneration  in  the  official  ceremonies  of  the  government. 

Twice  a  year  a  special  day  is  set  aside  for  the  worship  of  Con- 
fucius, and  it  is  an  established  custom  that  at  the  imperial  college 
the  emperor  himself  attends  the  festival  in  state.  Bowing  his  head 
six  times  to  the  ground,  he  invokes  the  spirit  of  the  sage  in  a 
kneeling  position  with  these  words  (quoted  in  Legge's  translation)  : 

"Great  art  thou,  O  perfect  sage! 
Thy  virtue  is  full ;  thy  doctrine  complete. 
Among  mortal  men  there  has  not  been  thine  equal. 
All  kings  honor  thee. 

Thy  statutes  and  laws  have  come  gloriously  down. 
Reverently  have  the  sacrificial  vessels  been  set  out. 
Full  of  awe,  we  sound  our  drums  and  bells." 

In  addition  to  the  books  which  Confucius  had  compiled  there 
are  two  more  writings  on  his  system  of  ethics,  which  have  acquired 
canonical  authority.  Both  breathe  the  spirit  of  the  great  master 
and  are  written  in  a  simple  direct  style  of  pure  ethics  founded  upon 
the  principles  of  filial  piety,  without  any  reference  to  religious  or 
metaphysical  motives.  They  are  the  "Great  Learning"  (Ta  Hsiao) 
and  "Middle  Doctrine"  (Chung  Yung). 

Children  are  taught  from  a  tender  age  to  reverence  Confucius, 
and  every  school  in  China  possesses  his  picture  before  which  teachers 
and  scholars  pay  homage  to  the  sage. 

Whatever  opinion  we  may  have  of  Confucius,  one  thing  stands 
out  clearly,  indicated  by  the  great  significance  he  holds  in  the  his- 
tory of  China,  in  Chinese  literature,  and  in  Chinese  thought:  viz., 
that  he  has  been  and  still  is  the  greatest  exponent  of  the  Chinese 
national  character ;  for  his  ideals  as  well  as  his  attitude  toward  life 
are  typically  Chinese. 

Confucius  was  a  throneless  king  indeed,  and  his  empire  is  the 


A  THRONELESS  KING  AND  HIS  EMPIRE. 


121 


realm  of  moral  aspirations  wherever  Chinese  civilisation  has  taken 
root.  The  emperor,  as  well  as  the  entire  machinery  of  the  Chinese 
government  is  but  the  organ  of  the  Chinese  spirit, — the  executor 


A   CHILD   WORSHIPING   THE   SAGE. 


of  ideas  which  determine  the  character  of  the  nation,  and  this  spirit, 
the  genius  of  the  Chinese  nation,  is  Confucius.  His  domain  is  the 
social  order  of  the  empire,  the  administration  from  the  throne  down 


122  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

to  its  lowliest  subject,  and  especially  the  schools.    Confucius  is  wor- 
shiped as  the  incarnation  of  morality. 

FILIAL  PIETY. 

Several  years  ago  while  sauntering  through  the  Pan-American 
Exposition  at  Buffalo,  New  York,  my  eye  was  attracted  by  a 
little  Chinese  store  where,  among  other  Oriental  curios,  were  dis- 
played wall  pendants,  ornamental  mottoes  designed  to  be  hung  up 
as  decorations  in  the  sitting-rooms  of  the  Celestials.  Being  inter- 
ested in  the  subject  of  things  Chinese  I  secured  copies  of  them. 


Archaic.  Common  Script. 

^^^^  THE  CHARACTER  HSIAO. 


and  since  they  are  characteristic  of  the  spirit  of  Chinese  moralism, 
I  take  pleasure  in  reproducing  them  here,  for,  indeed,  our  descrip- 
tion of  Chinese  thought  would  not  be  complete  without  a  reference 
to  Chinese  ethics  in  which  the  ideal  of  hsiao,  i.  e.,  filial  piety,  plays 
so  prominent  a  part. 

The  paper  and  art  work  of  these  pendants  are  crude  enough 
to  allow  the  assumption  that  the  prints  must  be  very  cheap  in  China, 
and  designed  for  the  common  people  and  not  for  the  rich.     Prob- 


A  THRONELESS   KING  AND   HIS  EMPIRE. 


123 


ably  they  cost  not  more  than  one  or  two  cents  apiece  in  Peking-  or 
Hong  Kong,  and  evidently  serve  the  two  purposes  of  instruction 
and  ornament. 

The  Chinese  are  much  more  of  a  moralising  people  than  we 
are ;  for  while  we  dislike  abstract  moralising,  they  delight  in  it  and  do 
not  tire  of  impressing  upon  their  children  the  praiseworthiness  of 
filial  devotion. 

The  character  hsiao  consists  of  two  symbols  representing  a 
child  si'pporting  an  old  man,  which  means  that  children  should 
honor  and  care  for  parents  in  their  old  age,  and  filial  piety  is  sup- 
posed to  be  the  basis  of  all  virtue.    The  moral  relations  are  regarded 


Ornamental. 


Seal  Style. 


THE  CHARACTER   HSIAO. 


as  mere  varieties  of  hsiao;  and  the  original  significance  of  the  word, 
which  means  chiefly  the  devotional  attitude  of  a  child  toward  his 
parents,  includes  such  relations  as  the  obedience  of  the  subject  to 
his  ruler,  of  the  wife  to  her  husband,  of  the  younger  brother  to  his 
elder  brother,  and  of  any  one's  relations  to  his  superiors,  including 
especially  man's  relation  to  Heaven  or  the  Lord  on  High,  to  God. 
The  Chinese  ornament  their  rooms,  not  as  we  do  with  pictures 
of  beauty,  but  with  moral  sayings ;  and  the  two  here  reproduced 


124  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

are  typical  of  the  national  character  of  the  Chinese.     The  former 
of  the  two  pendants,  literally  translated,  reads: 

"When  father  |  and  son  |  combine  [  their  efforts  |  mountains  |  are  changed 
I  into  gems." 

The  saying,  however,  is  not  an  admonition  to  parents  to  keep 

in  harmony  with  their  sons  but  to  sons  to  be  obedient  to  their  parents. 

The  second  pendant  reads : 

a  ^  IP)  i6  ±  a.^ 

"When  elder  brother  |  and  younger  brother  (or  briefly,  when  brothers)  | 
are  harmonious  |  in  their  hearts  |  the  earth  |  will  be  changed  [  into  an  Eldo- 
rado."^ 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  letters  are  pictures  containing  figures 
and  Chinese  characters;  and  we  have  here  the  Chinese  peculiarity 
of  utilising  their  script  for  illustrations  which  represent  scenes  from 
well-known  Chinese  stories  of  filial  devotion ;  all  of  them  being  taken 
from  a  famous  book  called  Twenty-four  Stories  of  Filial  Devotion. 
These  stories  are  known  to  every^hinaman,,  for  they  form  the  most 
important  text-book  of  their  moral  education. 

The  first  character  (fu,  meaning  "father")  represents  Wang 
Ngai,  who  lived  during  the  Wei  dynasty  (220-364  A.  D.).  His 
mother  was  much  afraid  of  lightning  and  so  during  thunderstorms 
stood  greatly  in  need  of  her  son's  comfort.  The  story  tells  us  that 
after  her  death  Wang  Ngai  continued  to  show  his  devotion  by 
visiting  her  tomb,  whenever  a  thunder-cap  appeared  on  the  horizon. 
The  picture  shows  him  bringing  offerings  to  her  grave  and  pro- 
tecting it  against  the  fury  of  the  thunder-god,  who  is  seen  hovering 
above  him  in  the  air.     (No.  805a,  p.  242.^) 

The  inscription  of  the  second  character  (fse,  meaning  "son") 
reads  in  one  place  "Tai  Son's  aged  mother,"  and  in  another  "Tan 
Hsiang's  daughter  weeping  over  a  sweet  melon." 

The  third  character  (hsieh,  meaning  "combine")  pictures  a 
child   standing  before   an   old   gentleman.     The   inscription   reads: 

^Literally,  gold. 

^  The  numbers  and  pages  in  parentheses  refer  to  Mayers,  Chinese  Reader's 
Manual. 


A  THRONELESS  KING  AND  HIS  EMPIRE. 


125 


fu 
[When]  father 


hsiung^ 
[When]  elder 
brothers 


yu 
into  gems. 


[and]  younger 
brothers 


chin 
into  an  Eldorado 
(gold). 


126  •  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

''Keeping  in  his  bag  a  crab  apple  he  showed  his  devotion  to  his 
parent."  It  refers  to  the  story  of  Luh  Sii.  When  a  boy  of  six 
years  he  visited  Yen  Yii  who  gave  him  crab  apples  to  eat  but  noticed 
that  the  child  kept  one  in  his  bag  for  his  mother.     (No.  443,  p.  140.) 

The  fourth  character  (//,  meaning  "strength")  illustrates  the 
story  of  Hwang  Hiang  who,  as  a  boy  of  seven,  after  his  mother's 
death  devoted  himself  unweariedly  to  his  father's  comfort.  In 
summer  he  fanned  his  pillow,  in  winter  he  kept  it  warm.  (No.  217, 
pp.  69-70.) 

The  fifth  character  (shan,  meaning  "mountain")  represents 
Kiang  Keh,  a  Chinese  Anchises  of  about  490  A.  D.  Once  he  res- 
cued his  mother  during  a  disturbance  of  the  peace  by  carrying  her 
many  miles  on  his  shoulders.  Behind  the  fugitives  in  the  center 
of  the  character  rages  the  spirit  of  rebellion  and  in  the  right-hand 
corner  is  seen  a  deserted  house.     (No.  255,  p.  80.) 

The  sixth  character  {ch'eng,  meaning  "fashioning,  shaping, 
transforming")  illustrates  the  story  of  Wu  Meng  who  exposes  him- 
self to  the  bites  of  mosquitoes  lest  his  mother  be  stung  by  them. 
The  picture  of  the  hero  of  the  story  lying  naked  on  a  couch  is  not 
very  clear  in  the  reproduction,  but  the  comfort  of  his  mother,  re- 
clining in  an  easy  chair  finds  a  distinct  expression.    (No.  808,  p.  260.) 

The  last  character  {yii)  of  the  first  series  is  remarkable  in  so 
far  as  it  stands  for  the  only  instance  of  a  woman's  being  praised 
for  filial  devotion.  It  represents  Ts'ui  She  who  nursed  at  her  own 
breast  her  toothless  old  mother-in-law  who  was  incapable  of  taking 
other  nourishment.     (No.  ygia,  p.  238.) 

The  first  character  of  the  second  pendant  {hsiung,  meaning 
"elder  brother")  relates  to  Wang  Siang,  whose  stepmother  felt  an 
appetite  for  fresh  fish  in  winter.  He  went  out  on  the  river,  lay  down 
on  the  ice,  warming  it  with  his  own  body,  and  caught  a  couple  of 
carp,  which  he  presented  to  her.     (No.  816,  p.  241.) 

The  next  character  {ti,  "younger  brother")  shows  the  famous 
Emperor  Yao  in  the  center  and  before  him  his  successor  Shun,  the 
pattern  of  filial  as  well  as  royal  virtues.  The  elephant,  one  of  the 
animals  that  helped  him  plow  the  fields,  is  visible  above  Shun  on 


A  THRONELESS  KING  AND  HIS  EMPIRE.  127 

the  right-hand  side.  WilHam  Frederick  Mayers  in  his  Chinese 
Reader's  Manual  (No.  617,  p.  189)  says  about  him: 

"Tradition  is  extremely  discordant  with  reference  to  his  origin 
and  descent.  According  to  the  Main  Records  of  the  five  Emperors, 
his  personal  name  was  Ch'ung  Hwa,  and  he  was  the  son  of  Ku  Sow, 
a  reputed  descendant  of  the  emperor  Chwan  Hii.  (He  had  also  the 
designation  Yu,  which  is  by  some  referred  to  a  region  in  modern 
Ho-nan,  but  by  others  to  the  territory  of  Yii  Yao,  in  modern  Che- 
kiang,  with  one  or  the  other  of  which  it  is  sought  to  connect  him.) 
His  father,  Ku  Sow  (lit.  'the  blind  old  man')  on  the  death  of  Shun's 
mother,  took  a  second  wife,  by  whom  he  had  a  son  named  Siang ; 
and  preferring  the  offspring  of  his  second  union  to  his  eldest  son, 
he  repeatedly  sought  to  put  the  latter  to  death.  Shun,  however, 
while  escaping  this  fate,  in  no  wise  lessened  his  dutiful  conduct 
toward  his  father  and  stepmother,  or  his  fraternal  regard  for  Siang. 
He  occupied  himself  in  ploughing  at  Li  Shan,  where  his  filial  piety 
was  rewarded  by  beasts  and  birds  who  spontaneously  came  to  drag 
his  plough  and  to  weed  his  fields.  He  fished  in  the  Lui  Lake  and 
made  pottery  on  the  banks  of  the  Yellow  River.  Still  his  parents 
and  his  brother  sought  to  compass  his  death ;  but  although  they 
endeavored  to  make  him  perish  by  setting  fire  to  his  house  and  by 
causing  him  to  descend  a  deep  well,  he  was  always  miraculously 
preserved.  In  his  twentieth  year,  he  attracted  by  his  filial  piety  the 
notice  of  the  wise  and  virtuous  Yao,  who  bestowed  upon  him  his 
two  daughters  in  marriage,  and  disinherited  his  son  Chu  of  Tan, 
in  order  to  make  Shun  his  successor  upon  the  throne.  In  the  71st 
year  of  his  reign  (B.  C.  2287),  Yao  associated  his  protege  with  him 
in  the  government  of  the  empire,  to  which  the  latter  succeeded  on 
the  death  of  Yao  in  B.  C.  2258." 

The  character  fung,  which  means  "agree,"  refers  to  Meng 
Tsung  of  the  third  century  A.  D.,  whose  mother  loved  to  eat  bam- 
boo shoots.  While  he  was  sorrowing  because  they  do  not  sprout  in 
winter,  the  miracle  happened  that  in  spite  of  the  frost  the  bamboos 
began  to  put  forth  their  sprouts,  and  so  he  was  enabled  to  fulfil  his 
mother's  desire.  (No.  499,  p.  155.)  The  picture  shows  a  table  on 
which  the  dish  of  bamboo  sprouts  is  served,  the  face  of  his  mother 


128  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

hovering  above  it.  On  the  right  hand  Meng  Tsung  sits  sorrowing ; 
the  left-hand  stroke  is  a  sprouting  bamboo  stick. 

Yen-Tze,  the  hero  of  the  next  story,  depicted  in  the  character 
"heart,"  is  said  to  have  ministered  to  his  mother's  preference  for 
the  milk  of  the  doe  by  disguising  himself  in  a  deer  skin  and  mingling 
with  a  herd  of  deer  in  the  forest,  where  he  succeeded  in  milking  a 
doe  and  in  spite  of  robbers,  represented  as  attacking  him  on  either 
side,  he  carried  his  mother's  favorite  food  safely  home  in  a  pail.  (No. 
916,  p.  276.) 

The  character  fti,  "earth,"  depicts  the  touching  story  of  the 
sacrifice  of  Yang  Hiang,  who  saw  a  tiger  approaching  his  father 
and  threw  himself  between  him  and  the  beast.  (No.  882,  p.  266.) 
In  the  reproduction  it  is  difficult  to  recognise  the  crouching  tiger, 
which  forms  the  stroke  through  the  character. 

The  next  to  the  last  character  (pien,  meaning  "changes")  refers 
to  Min  Sun,  a  disciple  of  Confucius.  Mayers  says :  "His  stepmother, 
it  is  recorded,  having  two  children  of  her  own,  used  him  ill  and 
clothed  him  only  in  the  leaves  of  plants.  When  this  was  discovered 
by  his  father,  the  latter  became  wroth  and  would  have  put  away 
the  harsh  stepmother,  but  Min  Sun  entreated  him  saying:  'It  is 
better  that  one  son  should  suflfer  from  cold  than  three  children  be 
motherless!'  His  magnanimous  conduct  so  impressed  the  mind  of 
his  stepmother  that  she  became  filled  with  affection  toward  him." 
(No.  503,  p.  156.) 

The  last  character  (chin,  meaning  "gold")  bears  the  inscription 
"With  mulberries  he  shows  his  filial  devotion  to  his  mother."  It  il- 
lustrates the  story  of  Ts'ai  Shun  who  during  the  famine  caused  by 
the  rebellion  of  Wang  Meng  (25  A.  D.)  picked  wild  mulberries  in 
the  woods  and  brought  the  black  ones  to  his  mother  while  he  was 
satisfied  with  the  unripe  yelow  ones.  The  picture  shows  a  robber 
watching  the  boy.  In  China  even  criminals  have  respect  for  the 
devotion  of  children  to  their  parents.  So  in  recognition  of  his  filial 
piety  the  robber  made  him  a  present  of  rice  and  meat. 

We  here  reproduce  a  series  of  illustrations  representing  the 
twenty-four  well-known  stories  of  filial  devotion,  which,  however, 
we  regret  to  say  are  not  by  a  Chinese  illustrator  but  by  one  of  the 


A  THRONELESS  KING  AND  HIS  EMPIRE. 


129 


most  remarkable  artists  of  Japan,  Hokusai,  the  painter  of  the  poor. 
Crude  woodcut  reproductions  of  these  pictures  are  known  all  over 
the  country  of  the  rising  sun. 


They  represent  (beginning  always  with  the  picture  in  the  right- 
hand  upper  corner  and  proceeding  downward)  : 


130 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


I.  Shun,  the  person  mentioned  above  destined  to  become  the 
son-in-law  and  successor  of  Emperor  Yao,  assisted  in  his  plowing 
by  an  elephant. 


2.  Tseng  Shen,  a  disciple  of  Confucius.    The  picture  illustrates 
a  miraculous  event.     When  he  was  gathering  fuel  in  the  woods, 


A  THRONELESS   KING  AND  HIS  EMPIRE.  I3I 

his  mother,  in  her  anxiety  to  see  him,  bit  her  finger;  and  such  was 
tlie  sympathy  between  the  two  that  he  was  aware  of  his  mother's 
(!csire  and  at  once  appeared  in  her  presence.     (No.  739,  p.  223.) 

3.  Wen  Ti,  natural  son  of  Kao  Tsu,  founder  of  the  Han  dynasty, 
succeeded  to  the  throne  after  the  usurpation  by  the  Empress  Dow- 
ager in  179  B.  C.  When  his  mother  fell  sick  he  never  left  her 
apartment  for  three  years  and  did  not  even  take  time  to  change  his 
apparel.     He  is  also  famous  as  a  most  humane  monarch. 

4.  Min  Sun,  maltreated  by  his  stepmother,  has  been  mentioned 
above.     (No.  503,  p.  156.) 

5.  Chung  Yeo,  another  disciple  of  Confucius,  famous  for  his 
martial  accomplishments,  who  died  a  hero's  death  in  the  suppression 
of  a  rebellion.  He  used  to  say :  "In  the  days  when  I  was  poor  I 
carried  rice  upon  my  back  for  the  support  of  those  who  gave  me 
birth;  and  now,  for  all  that  I  would  gladly  do  so  again,  I  cannot 
recall  them  to  life!"     (No.  91,  pp.  29-30.) 

6.  Tung  Yung  was  too  poor  to  give  his  father  a  decent  burial. 
So  he  bonded  himself  for  10,000  pieces  of  cash  to  perform  the  fu- 
neral rites  with  all  propriety.  ''When  returning  to  his  home,  he  met 
a  woman  who  offered  herself  as  his  wife,  and  who  repaid  the  loan 
he  had  incurred  with  300  webs  of  cloth.  The  pair  lived  happily 
together  for  a  month,  when  the  woman  disclosed  the  fact  that  she 
was  no  other  than  the  star  Chih  Nii,^  who  had  been  sent  down  by 
the  Lord  of  Heaven,  her  father,  to  recompense  an  act  of  filial  piety ; 
and  saying  this  she  vanished  from  his  sight."     (No.  691,  p.  210.) 

7.  The  story  of  Yen-Tze,  who  while  dressed  in  a  deer-skin,  is 
here  pictured  as  meeting  a  robber.     (No.  916,  p.  2^6.') 

8.  Kiang  Keh  asking  the  robber  chief's  permission  to  allow  him 
to  carry  away  his  mother.     (No.  255,  p.  80.) 

9.  Luh  Sii  (who  lived  in  the  first  century  of  the  Christian  era), 
was  liberated  by  his  jailer,  when  imprisoned  for  complicity  in  a 
conspiracy,  on  account  of  the  devotion  he  showed  toward  his  mother. 
(No.  443,  p.  140.) 

10.  The  story  of  Ts'ui  She,  nursing  her  husband's  mother. 


'The  star  Vega,  a  in  Lyre.     The  fairy  story  which  the  Chinese  tell  in 
connection  with  this  star  is  given  on  page  y^. 


132 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


11.  Wii   Meng   (No.  868,  p.  260),  exposing  himself  to  mos- 
quitoes. 

12.  Wang  Siang,  thawing  the  ice  to  catch  carp. 


'ft'r^-  -^  "^• 


13.  The  story  of  Kwoh  K'ii,  who  "is  said  to  have  lived  in  the 
second  century  A.  D.,  and  to  have  had  an  aged  mother  to  support, 


A  THRONELESS  KING  AND  HIS  EMPIRE.  I33 

besides  his  own  wife  and  children.  Finding  that  he  had  not  food 
sufficient  for  all,  he  proposed  to  his  wife  that  they  should  bury 
their  infant  child  in  order  to  have  the  more  for  their  mother's 
wants ;  and  this  devotedness  was  rewarded  by  his  discovering,  while 
engaged  in  digging  a  pit  for  this  purpose,  a  bar  of  solid  gold 
which  placed  him  above  the  reach  of  poverty,  and  upon  which  were 
inscribed  the  words :  *A  gift  from  Heaven  to  Kwoh  K'ii ;  let  none 
deprive  him  of  it!'  "     (No.  303,  p.  95.) 

14.  Yang  Hiang  offering  himself  to  the  tiger.    (No.  882,  p.  266.) 

15.  Cho  Show-ch'ang  searched  fifty  years  for  his  mother  who 
had  been  divorced  from  his  father.  Having  succeded  in  his  purpose 
he  served  her  the  rest  of  her  life.     (No.  81,  pp.  26-27.) 

16.  Yii  Kien-low,  ministering  unto  his  sick  father.  (No.  950, 
p.  286.) 

17.  Lao  Lai-Tze  plays  like  a  child  with  his  parents  who  suffer 
from  senile  childishness. 

18.  The  same  story  is  told  of  Ts'ai  Shun  as  of  Tseng  Shen,  viz., 
that  he  was  recalled  from  a  distance  by  a  sensation  of  pain  which 
visited  him  when  his  mother  bit  her  own  finger.  During  the 
troubles  ensuing  upon  Wang  Mang's  usurpation,  A.  D.,  25,  when 
a  state  of  famine  prevailed,  he  nourished  his  mother  with  wild 
berries,  retaining  only  the  unripe  ones  for  his  own  sustenance.  On 
her  death,  while  mourning  beside  her  coffin,  he  was  called  away  by 
attendants  who  exclaimed  that  the  house  was  on  fire ;  but  he  refused 
to  leave  the  spot,  and  his  dwelling  remained  unharmed.  As  his 
mother  had  been  greatly  alarmed,  in  her  lifetime,  whenever  thunder 
was  heard,  he  made  it  his  duty,  after  death,  to  repair  to  her  grave 
during  thunderstorms,  and  to  cry  out:  "Be  not  afraid,  mother,  I 
am  here!"  (No.  752,  p.  226.)  Our  illustration  depicts  him  meeting 
a  hunter  in  the  woods  who  gives  him  a  piece  of  venison. 

19.  Huang  Hiang,  fanning  his  father's  bed. 

20.  Kiang  She  in  conjunction  with  his  wife  devoted  hirnself  to 
waiting  upon  his  aged  mother,  in  order  to  gratify  whose  fancy  he 
went  daily  a  long  distance  to  draw  drinking  water  from  a  river  and 
to  obtain  fish  for  her  table.  This  devotedness  was  rewarded  by  a 
miracle.    A  spring  burst  forth  close  by  his  dwelling,  and  a  pair  of 


134 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


carp  were  daily  produced  from  it  to  supply  his  mother's  wants.     (No. 
256,  p.  81.) 


21.  Wang  Ngai  comforting  the  spirit  of  his  mother  in  a  thunder- 
storm. 

22.  Ting  Lan  ''flourished  under  the  Han  dynasty.     After  his 


A  THRONELESS  KING  AND  HIS  EMPIRE.  I35 

mother's  death  he  preserved  a  wooden  effigy  representing  her  figure, 
to  which  he  offered  the  same  forms  of  respect  and  duty  as  he  had 
observed  toward  his  parent  during  Hfe.  One  day,  while  he  was 
absent  from  home,  his  neighbor  Chang  Shuh  came  to  borrow  some 
household  article,  whereupon  his  wife  inquired  by  the  divining-slips 
whether  the  effigy  would  lend  it,  and  received  a  negative  reply. 
Hereupon  the  neighbor  angrily  struck  the  wooden  figure.  When 
Ting  Lan  returned  to  his  home  he  saw  an  expression  of  displeasure 
on  the  features  of  his  mother's  effigy,  and  on  learning  from  his  wife 
what  had  passed,  he  took  a  stick  and  beat  the  aggressor  severely. 
When  he  was  apprehended  for  this  deed  the  figure  was  seen  to  shed 
tears,  and  facts  thus  becoming  known  he  received  high  honors  from 
the  State."     (No.  670,  p.  204.) 

23.  Meng  Sung  reaping  bamboo  shoots  for  his  mother  in  winter. 

24.  Hwang  Ting-Kien  (a  celebrated  poet  of  the  Sung  dynasty), 
performs  menial  services  in  ministering  to  his  parents.     (No.  226, 

P-  73') 

Some  of  the  stories  seem  silly  to  us :  a  pickax  would  have  done 
better  service  in  breaking  the  ice  than  the  method  of  thawing  it  up 
with  one's  own  body  and  catching  cold ;  a  mosquito-net  would  have 
proved  more  useful  than  feeding  the  insects  with  the  blood  of  a 
devoted  child,  etc.  Moreover  the  stolidity  of  parents  in  accepting 
sacrifices  of  children  with  equanimity  and  as  a  matter  of  course 
is  to  our  sense  of  propriety  nothing  short  of  criminal.  Still,  it  will 
be  wise  for  us  whose  habits  of  life  suffer  from  the  opposite  extreme, 
viz.,  irreverence  for  authority  or  tradition  in  any  form,  to  recog- 
nise that  all  of  them  are  pervaded  with  a  noble  spirit  of  respect  for 
parents,  which  though  exaggerated  is  none  the  less  touching  and 
ought  to  command  our  admiration. 


THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM. 

CHINESE  CHARACTERISTICS. 

'T^HE  Chinese  are  industrious,  modest,  easily  satisfied,  and  meek. 

-*"     They  are  at  a  disadvantage  in  warfare  and  politics;  but  the 

main  struggle  for  survival  will  be  decided,  not  by  guns  and  diplo- 


ISLAND    IN    THE   YANGTZE    RIVER. 


matic  treaties,  but  by  sociological  conditions ;  and  when  the  Chinese 
people  will  be  drawn  into  the  great  whirlpool  of  the  world's  com- 
mercial interests,  we  shall  discover  that  they  will  soon  make  their 
influence  felt,  and  the  probability  is  that  their  very  virtues,  their 


PAGODA  OF  PEKING. 


Characteristic  of  China  as  exhibiting  the  state  of  decay  into  which 
public  buildings  are  suffered  to  fall. 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

riigality  and  tenacious  industrial  habits  will  make  them  obnoxious 
to  the  white  man,  who  kindly  offers  himself  to  bear  the  burden  of 
governing  the  yellow  race. 

China  is  an  interesting  country.  The  landscapes  are  beautiful ; 
its  mountains  are  rich  in  coal  and  ores ;  its  plains  are  as  fertile  as 
the  prairies  of  Illinois,  perhaps  more  so ;  its  national  traditions  are 
curious;  and  it  is  probable  that  some  time  the  currents  of  Chinese 
nationality  and  Western  civilisation  will  be  intermingled.  China 
will  be  opened  to  Western  civilisation,  and  perhaps  the  Chinese  too 
will  slowly  but  steadily  gain  a  foothold  in  the  territories  of  the  West. 


IMPERIAL  PALACE  IN  THE  TIGER  MOUNTAINS. 


It  is  difficult  to  predict  the  result,  but  one  thing  is  sure,  that  while 
Western  civilisation  is  bound  to  upset  and  revolutionise  China,  the 
Chinese  will  in  their  turn  affect  the  habits,  opinions,  and  the  entire 
social  and  racial  constitution  of  Western  culture.  There  is  never  an 
action  without  reaction.  The  Chinese  are  not  pugnacious,  they 
are  not  conquerors  like  the  Saxons,  but  they  possess  qualities  that  in 
the  struggle  for  existence  are  of  greater  importance  still,  viz.,  en- 
durance, persistence,  plodding  patience,  and  industrious  habits. 

The  Rev.  R.  Morrison  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  Christian 


THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM. 


139 


missionaries  and  a  close  student  of  Chinese  language,  literature, 
history,  and  customs.  His  opinion  of  the  Chinese,  as  given  in  the 
conclusion  of  his  book  A  View  of  China  for  Philological  Purposes, 
is  remarkable  for  its  correctness  and  justice  which  is  best  evinced 
in  the  fact  that  the  statement,  though  made  almost  a  century  ago 


THE  PAVILION  OF  THE  IMPERIAL  PALACE  AT  PEKING 


(viz.,  in  1817),  might  have  been  written  yesterday  and  not  a  word 
of  it  would  lose  its  force.  Since  the  works  of  Mr.  Morrison  have 
presumably  become  inaccessible  to  most  of  our  readers,  we  deem 
it  opportune  to  quote  his  views  in  full. 


I40 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


REV.  R.  MORRISON'S  VIEWS. 

''In  China  there  is  much  to  blame,  and  perhaps  something  from 
which  to  learn.  A  good  writer^  has  remarked  that  the  Christian 
spirit  is  very  different  from  what  may  be  called  the  heroic  spirit; 


THE  PAGODA  OF  THE  IMPERIAL  PALACE  AT  PEKING. 


340 


it  is  of  a  more  tame,  gentle,  and  submissive  cast.  It  is  matter  of 
regret  how  little,  in  this  particular,  it  has  moulded  the  public  feeling 
of  Europe,  and  how  much  we  yet  overvalue  a  high,  proud  spirit, 

^Archdeacon  Paley. 


THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM.  I4I 

with  a  bold  disregard  of  consequences,  and  prefer  it  to  a  rational, 
meek,  unaspiring,  and  humble  spirit.  Nothing  can  be  more  un- 
christian than  the  stern  resentment  of  insults  cherished  by  Euro- 
peans. 

'The  Chinese  teach  contempt  of  the  rude,  mstead  of  fighting 
with  them.  And  the  man  who  unreasonably  insults  another,  has 
public  opinion  against  him,  whilst  he  who  bears  and  despises  the 
affront,  is  esteemed. 

"The  Chinese  are  fond  of  appealing  to  reason.  They  have  their 
'men  of  a  high-spirited  sense  of  right,'  and  who  manifest  a  bold 
adherence  to  it,  but  still  such  characters  are  at  great  pains  to  show 
that  reason  is  on  their  side.  They  have  no  conception  of  that 
sullen  notion  of  honor,  that  would  lead  a  man  to  prefer  being  shot, 
or  shooting  somebody  else,  rather  than  explain  and  prove  the  truth 
and  reasonableness  of  his  words  and  actions. 

"Even  the  Government  is  at  the  utmost  pains  to  make  it  appear 
to  the  people,  that  its  conduct  is  reasonable  and  benevolent  on  all 
occasions.  They  have  found  by  the  experience  of  many  ages  that 
it  is  necessary.  To  make  out  the  argument,  they  are  not  nice  about 
a  strict  adherence  to  truth ;  nor  are  their  reasons  or  premises  such 
that  Europeans  would  generally  admit;  but  granting  them  their 
own  premises  and  statement  of  facts,  they  never  fail  to  prove  that 
those  whom  they  oppose  are  completely  in  the  wrong. 

"A  Chinese  would  stand  and  reason  with  a  man,  when  an  Eng- 
lishman would  knock  him  down,  or  an  Italian  stab  him.  It  is  need- 
less to  say  which  is  the  more  rational  mode  of  proceeding. 

"Were  the  religious  and  moral  writings  of  Europeans  consid- 
ered by  a  person  living  in  China,  as  a  faithful  delineation  of  their 
character,  how  much  would  he  be  mistaken !  And  on  the  other  hand, 
if  he  formed  his  opinion  from  the  follies  and  vices  recorded  in  the 
daily  papers,  whilst  he  would  form  a  quite  opposite  opinion,  it  would 
be  equally  unfair.  We  should  guard  against  judging  of  the  whole 
by  a  part  ontyo  The  European  student  must  not  consider  what 
the  Chinese  teach,  and  what  they  do,  as  always  the  same.  Their 
moral  maxims  are  as  ineffectual  in  regulating  their  hearts  and 
conduct  as  the  moral  maxims  of  Christendom  are  with  respect  to 


142 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


Europeans.  This,  knowing  what  is  right,  and  doing  what  is  wrong, 
can  be  accounted  for  only  on  the  principle  that  human  nature  is 
depraved,  or  fallen  from  its  original  purity  and  rectitude. 

"The  millions  of  China,  whom,  on  principle,  we  must  recognise 
as  children  of  the  same  Almighty  Father  ( for  God  hath  made  of  one 
blood  all  nations  of  men),  are  rendered  by  the  strong  arm  of  power, 
exerted  by  the  magistrate,  the  parent,  or  guardian,  more  afraid  of 
telling  truth  than  Europeans.     They  are  vastly  prone  to  prevari- 


THE  PAILOO  GATE  AT  AMOI.* 


cate,  to  deceive,  to  lie.  Superstition  and  idolatry  usurp  the  place 
of  true  religion ;  and,  Chinese,  like  the  rest  of  mankind,  are  in- 
clined to  be  satisfied  with  external  observances,  instead  of  religious 
and  moral  rectitude. 

"The  affairs  of  Europe  are  of  comparatively  no  importance 
whatever  to  China ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  the  affairs  of  China  do 
not  much  concern  Europeans.     There  exists  mutual  indifference. 

*  Pailoo  gates  are  memorial  structures  built  in  honor  of  worthy  widows 
or  persons  who  have  distinguished  themselves  by  filial  piety  or  other  virtues. 
Pat  means  tablet,  and  loo,  any  building  with  an  upper  story. 


THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM. 


143 


"The  Greeks  and  Romans  were  the  ancestors  of  Europeans. 
The  scenes  of  their  battles ;  the  situation  and  antiquities  of  their 
cities ;  the  birth-place  of  their  poets,  historians,  legislators,  and 
orators,  all  possess  an  acquired  interest  in  the  minds  of  those  whose 
education  has  led  them  to  an  early  acquaintance  with  them.  But  it 
would  be  difficult  for  a  Chinese  of  the  best  talents  and  education,  to 
acquire  in  the  years  of  manhood,  a  similar  interest. 


TOMBS   NEAR  PEKING. 


"The  Chinese  also  can  point  out  the  scenes  of  battles  where 
thousands  fought  and  died ;  the  situation  of  splendid  courts ;  the 
tombs  of  monarchs ;  the  abodes  of  historians,  moralists,  and  poets, 
whose  memory  is  dear  to  them,  and  which  interest  their  hearts  in 
the  antiquities  of  their  fathers.  But  what  they  look  on  with  interest 
and  pleasure,  can  certainly  have  few  charms  for  a  foreigner,  who  is 
excluded  from  all  their  families,  and  passed  from  Peking  to  Canton 


144  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

in  a  boat,  under  military  escort.-  Still  from  this  to  deny  that  the 
country  does  not  possess  any  of  the  charms  of  Europe,  does  not 
seem  a  fair  conclusion.  If  the  reality  of  things  is  to  be  judged  of 
by  the  feelings  of  the  inhabitants  of  a  country,  every  region  of  the 
world,  and  every  state  of  society,  would  in  its  turn  assume  the  place 
of  high  superiority.  Europe,  which  is  the  most  scientific  portion  of 
the  globe,  is  not  yet  free  from  selfish  and  narrow  prejudices;  and 
to  a  person  placed  on  the  Eastern  verge  of  the  Asiatic  Continent, 
who  hears  little  of  the  nations  of  Europe,  but  the  distant  rumor  of 
their  perpetual  wars,  with  all  their  advantages,  they  appear  still  as 
rancorous  against  each  other,  as  if  they  possessed  no  great  principles 
of  equity  and  justice  to  appeal  to,  or  were  too  selfish  and  barbarous 
to  do  so. 

"There  are  certainly  not  many  things  in  which  the  Chinese  are 
worthy  of  imitation :  there  is,  however,  one  benevolent  cause,  which 
a  Chinese  would  never  think  of  opposing,  but  which  has  yet  to 
struggle  with  much  unreasonable  opposition  in  modern  Europe,  viz., 
that  of  making  education  as  general  as  possible,  and  giving  to  moral 
science  a  decided  preference  to  physical  science,  in  the  education  of 
youth ;  to  honor  virtue  more  than  talent.  It  is  painful  to  hear  a 
smattering  of  astronomy  and  geography  together  with  a  little  music, 
drawing,  and  dancing,  which  can  be  of  very  little  use  in  the  regu- 
lation of  the  heart  and  life,  considered  of  great  value,  whilst  instruc- 
tion in  relative  and  religious  duties,  on  which  depend  the  peace  and 
happiness  of  families  and  of  nations,  is  lightly  esteemed.  To  utter 
a  moral  or  religious  sentiment  anywhere  but  in  the  pulpit  is  esteemed 
perfectly  insufferable.  Every  benevolent  Englishman  must  wish  to 
see  the  reasoning  faculty  more  called  into  exercise,  than  it  generally 
is  amongst  the  poor  of  his  own  country,  and  to  hear  duty  to  parents, 
with  a  rational  and  religious  self-control,  quite  as  much  honored 
in  general  conversation  as  those  attainments  and  accomplishments, 
which  may  confer  elegance  on  a  dwelling  and  give  grace  to  a  person, 
but  which  have  no  influence  on  the  springs  of  human  action,  morally 
considered,  nor  feed  the  sources  of  real  heart-felt  human  bliss. 

"The  writer,  however,  means  not  to  insinuate,  that  in  morals 

'  This  was  m  1817. 


146 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


we  are  inferior  to  the  Chinese ;  he  believes  the  fact  to  be  very  far 
the  reverse.  Their  advantages  indeed  have  not  been  equal  to  ours ; 
and  our  public  morals  are  still  greatly  below  what  our  acknowl- 
edged standards  require.  As,  'Fas  est  ah  hoste  doceri/  so  probably 
in  some  things,  nations  denominated  Christian,  may  yet  learn  from 
heathens.  As  Confucius  taught,  our  dislike  of  a  man's  vices  should 
never  be  carried  to  such  a  height  as  to  make  us  blind  to  what  is 
really  good  about  him. 

"The  good  traits  in  the  Chinese  character,  amongst  themselves, 
are  mildness  and  urbanity ;  a  wish  to  show  that  their  conduct  is 


STREET  SCENE  IN  PEKING. 


6108 


reasonable,  and  generally  a  willingness  to  yield  to  what  appears 
so;  docility;  industry;  subordination  of  juniors;  respect  for  the 
aged,  and  for  parents ;  acknowledging  the  claims  of  poor  kindred : 
these  are  the  virtues  of  public  opinion,  which,  of  course,  are,  in 
particular  cases,  often  more  show  than  reality.  For  on  the  other 
hand,  the  Chinese  are  specious,  but  insincere,  jealous,  envious,  and 
distrustful  to  a  high  degree.  There  is  amongst  them  a  considerable 
prevalence  of  skepticism;  of  a  Sadducean,  and  rather  Atheistical 
spirit ;  and  their  conduct  is  very  generally  such  as  one  would  natu- 


THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM.  147 

rally  expect  from  a  people  whose  minds  feel  not  that  sense  of  Divine 
Authority,  nor  that  reverence  for  the  Divine  Majesty  and  Goodness, 
which  in  Sacred  Scripture  is  denominated  the  'Fear  of  God.'  Con- 
science has  few  checks  but  the  laws  of  the  land ;  and  a  little  frigid 
ratiocination,  on  the  fitness  and  propriety  of  things,  which  is  not 
generally  found  efifectual  to  restrain,  when  the  selfish  and  vicious 
propensities  of  our  nature  may  be  indulged  with  present  impunity. 
The  Chinese  are  generally  selfish,  cold-blooded,  and  inhumane. 

"Perhaps  the  behavior  of  no  people  amongst  themselves  and 
towards  foreigners  is  exactly  the  same.  With  the  Chinese  it  is 
exceedingly  different.  When  interest  or  fear  do  not  dictate  a  dif- 
ferent course,  they  are  to  strangers,  haughty,  insolent,  fraudulent 
and  inhospitable.  A  merchant  will  flatter  a  foreign  devil  (as  they 
express  it),  when  he  has  something  to  gain  from  him;  then  he  can 
be  servile  enough ;  particularly  if  he  is  not  seen  by  his  own  country- 
men ;  for  the  presence  of  a  menial  servant  of  his  own  nation  will 
make  him  more  on  his  guard  in  yielding  his  fancied  superiority. 
Europeans  are  secluded  from  general  intercourse  with  natives  of 
different  ranks ;  which  affords  great  facilities  to  merchants  and  na- 
tive domestics  to  combine  and  impose  upon  them,  which  they  usually 
do.  Few  instances  of  gratitude  or  attachment  have  ever  occurred 
on  the  part  of  servants  to  their  European  masters.  The  Chinese 
study  to  get  the  better  of  those  with  whom  they  have  to  contend, 
by  bringing  the  other  party  into  a  dilemma,  like  the  king  in  chess, 
who  is  reduced  to  checkmate ;  and  they  become  apprehensive,  when 
their  opponents  maintain  calmness  and  an  apparent  indifference ; 
they  remember  their  own  maxim,  'He  that  has  reason  on  his  side, 
need  not  talk  loudly.' 

"Love  to  one's  own  country  is  perfectly  compatible  with  benev- 
olent feelings  to  all  mankind ;  and  the  prosperity  of  this  nation, 
with  the  prosperity  of  that.     It  seems  quite  a  mistake  to  think  that 
attachment  to  one's  own  people  is  manifested  by  a  violent  dislike  of    ' 
others. 

"Will  the  day  ever  come  when  the  various  tribes  of  men  shall 
live  together  as  brothers?  When  they  shall  not  hurt,  nor  destroy 
each  other  any  more?    When  truth  and  knowledge  shall  universally 


148 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


prevail?  Let  us  still  cherish  the  pleasing  hope,  that  so  desirable 
a  state  of  society  will  finally  exist,  and  whilst  cherishing  this  hope, 
every  serious  mind  will  readily  join  in  the  King  of  Israel's  Prayer 
to  the  Almighty,  'O  God  let  thy  ways  be  known  upon  the  Earth, 
and  thy  saving  health  amongst  all  nations.'  " 

So  far  Mr.  Morrison ;  and  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  he,  as  a 
missionary  of  the  Church  militant,  is  confessedly  hostile  to  Chinese 
institutions,  but  he  deems  it  advisable  to  learn  from  the  enemy  and 
to  recognise  their  virtues.     It  would  be  interesting  to  contrast  his 


TYPICAL  CHINESE  TRAVELING  CART. 


views  with  those  of  an  equally  fairminded  Chinese  scholar.  We  do 
not  believe  that  any  Asiatic  would  look  upon  the  Christian  nations 
as  God-fearing,  and  if  he  did,  he  would  presumably  distinguish  be- 
tween their  theories  and  practice,  between  their  religious  doctrines 
and  their  deeds,  their  professed  principles  and  the  policy  which  they 
actually  pursue.  Perhaps  he,  too,  would  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  glaring  contradiction  in  their  character  can  be  explained  only 
as  due  to  the  general  depravity  of  mankind. 


THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM.  149 

GLIMPSES  OF  CHINESE  HISTORY. 

The  history  of  China  is  distinguished  by  an  uninterrupted  con- 
tinuity and  antedates  the  oldest  of  the  modern  nations  of  Europe  by 
more  than  three  thousand  years.  It  begins  with  a  legendary  period  at 
the  head  of  which  in  the  mists  of  myth  stands  the  founder  of  Chinese 
civilisation,  Fuh  Hi,  whose  reign  is  counted  from  2852  to  2737  B.  C. 

Among  the  first  "Five  Rulers,"  so  styled,  the  one  who  is  best 
known  and,  after  Fuh  Hi,  most  frequently  referred  to,  is  Huang 
Ti,  the  "Yellow  Emperor."  His  reign  begins  with  the  year  2697  B. 
C.  He  is  said  to  be  the  inventor  of  the  wagon,  and  according  to 
some  traditions  is  a  rival  of  Fuh  Hi  to  the  honor  of  being  regarded 
as  the  father  of  Chinese  civilisation.  Most  important,  however,  is 
the  fact  that  the  Chinese  calendar  based  upon  the  hexagenary  cycle 
begins  under  his  reign. 

The  first  dynasty,  the  Hsia  dynasty,  still  legendary  in  all  details, 
is  headed  by  the  great  Yii,  and,  covering  a  space  of  over  four  cen- 
turies (2205-1766  B.  C),  is  succeeded  by  the  Shang  dynasty,  also 
called  the  Yin  dynasty,  which  ruled  1 766-1 122.  With  the  Chou 
dynasty  (1122-249)  we  begin  to  touch  historical  ground.  The 
father  of  its  founder  is  Si  Peh,  commonly  called  the  "Chief  of  the 
West,"  and  in  history  known  by  his  posthumous  title  Wen  Wang, 
which  may  be  translated  as  "Literature  King."  He  is  praised  as 
a  pattern  of,  and  a  martyr  to  royal  virtues,  for  his  stern  integrity 
gave  offence  to  the  debauched  tyrant,  Chou  Hsin,  the  last  emperor 
of  the  Yin  dynasty.  He  was  thrown  into  prison,  and  while  there 
occupied  himself  in  his  enforced  leisure  with  the  mystic  symbolism 
of  the  Yih,  the  Book  of  Changes.  His  brother,  Chou  Kung,  (the 
Duke  of  Chou),  and  his  son  Fa  accomplished  his  release  by  pre- 
senting a  beautiful  concubine  and  some  horses  to  the  tyrant  who 
then  allowed  Wen  Wang  to  return  to  his  home  on  the  condition  that 
he  should  make  war  on  the  frontier  tribes. 

After  Wen  Wang's  death,  his  son  Fa,  best  known  under  his 
posthumous  title  "Wu  Wang"  (i.  e.,  "war  king"),  guided  by  the 
wise  counsel  of  his  noble  uncle,  the  Duke  of  Chou,  assumed  the 
leadership  of  the  discontented  nobles  of  the  empire,  crossed  the 


'50 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


Huang  Ho  at  the  ford  of  Meng  with  an  army,  and  overthrew  the 
imperial  forces  in  the  plains  of  Mu.  The  tyrant  burned  himself  in 
his  palace,  while  the  victorious  Wu  Wang  became  emperor. 

The  Chou  dynasty  governed  almost  nine  centuries  and  was 
followed  by  the  Ts'in  dynasty  (255-210  B.  C.)  which  was  of  short 
duration.    It  reached  its  climax  in  Shi  Huang  Ti,  a  great  conqueror, 


ARCHWAY  IN  THE  GREAT  WALL. 


who,  for  the  first  time,  in  221  B.  C,  united  the  whole  of  China  under 
his  scepter  and  assumed  the  title  of  "Emperor."  All  previous  sov- 
ereigns had  been  satisfied  to  be  called  "Rulers."  He  governed  from 
237  until  210  and  is  known  as  a  despiser  of  literature.  He  persecuted 
the  literati  and  issued  an  edict  that  on  penalty  of  death  all  the  canon- 
ical books  should  be  burned  (213  B.  C.)-    For  the  protection  of  the 


THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM. 


151 


country  against  the  inroads  of  the  Tartars,  whose  territory  forms 
now  a  part  of  the  Chinese  empire,  he  had  the  Great  Wall  erected 
through  his  general  Meng  T'ien.  This  is  a  colossal  work  worthy  to 
be  compared  to  the  pyramids  of  Gizeh.  Though  more  than  two 
thousand  years  old,  it  still  stands  as  a  monument  to  its  builders. 

A  Chinese  historian  says  that  one-third  of  the  population  of  the 
empire  had  to  be  pressed  into  service  for  the  completion  of  the  work, 
and  more  than  400,000  of  the  laborers  died  from  maltreatment,  over- 
exertion, and  lack  of  food. 


THE  GREAT  WALL. 


342 


General  Meng  T'ien  is  supposed  to  be  the  inventor  of  the  wri- 
ting-brush which  replaced  the  cruder  methods  of  scratching  the 
letters  on  bamboo  sticks  with  a  knife.  When  the  tyrant  Shi  Huang 
Ti  died,  Meng  T'ien  ended  his  life  by  suicide. 

Tradition  relates  that  the  Great  Wall  was  built  by  Shi  Huang 
Ti  as  the  result  of  a  prophecy  that  his  empire  was  endangered  by 
Hu,  which  is  the  name  of  the  Tartar  tribes  in  the  North.  The 
prophecy  was  unexpectedly  fulfilled  to  the  letter  through  the  ruin 
which  befell  his  house  when  his  second  and  unworthy  son  Hu  Hai 


152 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


usurped  the  throne.  Fu  Su,  the  rightful  heir,  died  in  banishment, 
but  the  usurper  was  soon  murdered  (in  207  B.  C.)  by  Chao  Kao, 
the  ambitious  eunuch  who  had  helped  him  to  ascend  the  throne. 

The  Ts'in  dynasty  was  succeeded  by  the  house  of  Han,  whose 
first  sovereign,  Liu  Pang,  received  universal  recognition  in  202  B.  C. 

It  is  not  our  intention  to  enumerate  all  the  dynasties  which  have 
successively  held  the  power  in  Cathay,  but  only  to  point  out  those 
figures  among  the  sovereigns  of  the  empire  who  are  most  frequently 
referred  to  in  the  history  of  Chinese  civilisation.  Therefore  we  will 
be  brief. 


HOME  OF  A  WEALTHY   CHINESE   MERCHANT. 


The  Former  Han  dynasty  reigned  from  206  B.  C.  till  25  A.  D. 
and  was  followed  by  the  Later  Han  (25-221  A.  D.),  also  called  the 
Western  Han  because  its  capital  Lo  Yang  was  situated  in  the  west. 

To  the  third  century  belongs  the  epoch  of  the  Three  Kingdoms 
which  are  Minor  Han,  the  Wei,  and  the  Wu.  The  whole  empire 
is  reunited  under  the  Western  Ts'in  (265-317  A.  D.)  and  the 
Eastern  Ts'in  (317-420  A.  D.),  but  China  is  again  rent  in  twain  by 
the  division  between  the  North  and  the  South.  Thereupon  follow 
the  Sui  (589-618),  theT'ang  (618-907)  and  the  Five  Dynasties  (907- 


THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM. 


153 


923;  923-936;  936-947;  947-951  ;  951-960)  succeeded  by  the  Sung 
(960-1127),  the  Southern  Sung  (i  127-1278),  the  Yiian  (i  206-1 341) 
and  the  Mmg  (1368-1628). 

The  Great  Wall  had  been  built  in  vain,  for  the  Manchu,  a  war- 
like Tartar  tribe,  took  possession  of  the  country  and  have  governed 
it  to  the  present  day. 

In  1644  the  Tartar  army  entered  Peking  and  placed  Shun  Shih 
upon  the  throne,  whose  family  adopted  the  name  Tai  Tsing,  "the 
Great  Pure  Ones."  Tsung  Ching,  the  last  emperor  of  the  van- 
quished Ming  fled,  and  after  wandering  about  for  some  days  in 


KUNG  YUEN^   THE   COURT  OF   EXAMINATIONS   AT   PEKING.^ 

misery  is  said  to  have  committed  suicide.  But  there  were  rumors 
afloat,  which  in  times  of  political  unrest  used  to  recur  again  and 
again,  that  his  descendants  were  still  living  in  some  sequestered 
place,  and  would  some  day  make  themselves  known  to  reclaim  the 
throne. 

The  Manchu  forced  upon  the  Chinese  nation  that  peculiar  hair- 
dress,  the  queue  on  the  shaven  head,  and  the  Tartar  tunic,  but  they 
in  their  turn  adopted  rapidly  the  Chinese  language  and  civilisation, 
and,  let  it  be  stated  to  their  credit,  furnished  the  nation  with  several 


^  This  and  the  last  two  pictures  are  reproduced  from  Wells  Williams's 
Middle  Kingdom. 


154  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

good  rulers,  among  whom,  however,  Kang-Hi  (1661-1722)  stands 
foremost  as  a  man  of  genius  and  a  ruler  who  deserves  to  be  ranked 
with  Charlemagne  and  Frederick  the  Great. 

The  three  most  important  epochs  are  the  Han,  the  T'ang  and 
the  Sung  dynasties. 

Under  the  Han  the  national,  social  and  religious  institutions 
have  been  molded  and  received  their  typically  Chinese  form.  The 
founder  of  the  Han  is  credited  with  having  introduced  the  plan  of 
competitive  examinations  for  office,  a  kind  of  civil  service  regula- 
tion which'  is  still  in  use ;  the  old  classical  books  were  recovered, 
re-edited,  and  commentated  upon ;  commerce  was  established  even 
with  distant  countries,  and  for  the  first  time  the  country  enjoyed  a 
high  degree  of  prosperity. 

Dr.  Wilhelm  Grube,  the  sinologist  of  Berlin,  characterises  this 
period  tersely  in  these  words :  "At  that  time  classical  antiquity  rose 
again  as  a  phenix  from  the  ashes  of  the  terrible  burning  of  the  books, 
and  the  flames  intended  to  destroy  them  now  surrounded  them  with 
the  aureole  of  martyrdom.  No  wonder  that  the  venerable  literary 
monuments  of  yore  henceforth  became  as  it  were  a  national  sanc- 
tuary and  were  regarded  forever  as  ideal  prototypes." 

The  T'ang  dynasty  marks  the  golden  age  of  Chinese  literature : 
it  produced  China's  greatest  poets,  Li  Pai,  Tu  Mu,  and  Pai  Lu 
T'ien. 

Under  the  Sung  dynasty  philosophy  reached  its  climax  in  the 
illustrious  Chou  T'ze  and  Chu  Hsi.  The  renown  of  K'ang  Hi's  reign 
was  of  a  quite  modern  type,  for  he  favored  besides  practical  moral- 
ity the  introduction  of  Western  sciences. 

CHINA'S  NATIONAL  NOVEL 

The  period  of  the  Three  Kingdoms,  which  with  its  feudal  in- 
stitutions greatly  resembles  our  Middle  Ages,  gave  rise  to  one  of  the 
most  popular  novels  in  China  entitled  "The  Story  of  the  Three 
Kingdoms,"  taking  the  place  which  the  Homeric  epics  held  in 
Greece;  arid  we  here  present  a  number  of  illustrations  of  its  main 
characters  reproduced  from  a  popular  Chinese  edition. 

The  most  famous  scene  and  the  basis  upon  which  the  whole 


THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM.  155 

cycle  of  romantic  events  is  founded,  is  the  oath  by  which  three  heroes 
pledge  their  loyalty  to  the  Han  dynasty  and  to  each  other. 

A  tall  man,  measuring  seven  feet^  five  inches  in  height,  stood 
reading  an  official  poster,  in  which  the  government  issued  a  call  for 
volunteers  to  fight  the  rebels  of  the  Yellow  Cap.  His  name  was 
Liu  Pei  and  his  appellative  Hsiian  Teh.  He  was  poor,  but  being 
born  of  the  imperial  family  of  Han,  he  became  emperor  in  the 
course  of  events  and  as  such  assumed  the  name  Chao  Lieh  Ti. 

He  read  the  placard  and  sighed ;  and  as  he  sadly  turned  away 
a  loud  voice  behind  him  called  out,  "Why  do  you  sigh?"  Hsuan 
Teh  turned  back  and  saw  a  man  eight  feet  tall  at  his  side.  He  had 
the  head  and  round  eyes  of  a  panther,  a  mouth  like  a  swallow's 
bill,  and  bristles  like  a  tiger.  His  voice  was  like  the  rumbling  of 
thunder  and  his  strength  like  that  of  a  race  horse.^  Hsiian  Teh 
asked  his  interlocutor's  name,  and  he  answered,  'T  am  Chang  Fei 
and  my  appellative  is  Yi  Teh.  I  am  a  butcher  and  a  wine  merchant 
and  possess  some  real  estate  in  the  province  of  Choh  Chiin.  I  am 
seeking  the  friendship  of  brave  men  and  noticed  that  you  were  read- 
ing the  poster.  But  why  do  you  sigh?"  Then  Hsiian  Teh  told  his 
story :  ''Though  I  have  to  earn  a  living  by.  braiding  mats  and  sandals 
of  straw,  I  belong  to  the  Han  family  and  grieve  at  its  decay." 

The  two  men  together  went  to  an  inn,  and  while  they  were 
discussing  over  a  glass  of  wine  the  advisability  of  going  to  war, 
a  third  man  of  gigantic  stature  entered,  wheeling  a  barrow.  "He 
stood  nine  feet  three  inches  high  and  had  a  beard  two  feet  long. 
His  face  was  brown  like  dates,  his  lips  were  like  cinnabar,  his  eyes 
the  eyes  of  the  red  phenix,  and  his  bushy  brows  seemed  to  invite 
silk  worms  to  nestle  there.  Stern  and  lofty  was  his  countenance 
and  his  bearing  awful  and  menacing."  He  joined  their  conference, 
and  introduced  himself  as  Kwan  Yii,  his  appellative  being  Chang 
Sheng  which,  however,  he  changed  to  Yiin  Ch'ang.  He  had  slain 
the  tyrant  of  his  native  country  and  was  now  a  refugee  without 

^The  Chinese  foot  is  somewhat  smaller  than  the  English  measure  of  the 
same  name. 

^  These  are  typical  Chinese  similes  for  the  characteristics  of  a  warlike 
man. 


156 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


a  home.     He  too  sympathised  with  the  tottering  Han,  and  so  the 
three  men  agreed  in  their  patriotic  convictions. 

In  their  enthusiasm  for  the  common  cause  the  three  men  went 
to  the  orchard  of  Chang  Fei  where  the  peaches  were  in  blossom. 
There  they  sacrificed  a  white  horse  to  Heaven  and  a  black  cow  to 
Earth  and  made  a  covenant  for  life  and  death,  in  which  they  pledged 
their  allegiance  to  the  legitimate  dynasty,  and  swore  that  in  all  dan- 


HSUAN    TEH. 

The  hero  of  the  story.     The  eldest  of 

the  Three  Covenant  Brethren, 

afterwards  king  of  Shuh. 


KWAN    YUN    CHIANG. 

The  second  of  the  Covenant  Brethren, 
now  worshiped  as  Kwan  Ti. 


gers  they  would  be  faithful  to  each  other  unto  the  end.  They  ex- 
claimed: "Liu  Pei,  Kwan  Yii,  and  Ch'ang  Fei,  though  of  different 
families,  yet  as  we  have  joined  in  brotherhood  with  heart  and 
strength  to  succor  distress  and  support  the  weak,  to  show  loyalty 
to  the  Kingdom,  and  to  secure  peace  to  the  common  people,  care  not 
to  have  been  born  at  the  same  time,  we  would  only  that  we  might 


THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM.  157 

die  together.  May  Imperial  Heaven  and  Royal  Mother  Earth  search 
truly  our  hearts,  and  him  who  proves  traitor  to  the  vow  or  forgets 
this  grace  may  Heaven  and  men  combine  to  slay." 

Then  Hsiian  Teh  was  greeted  by  his  fellow  covenanters  as  their 
elder  brother,  and  all  three  went  into  the  presence  of  his  aged  mother 
prostrating  themselves  before  her  on  the  ground,  a  typical  Chinese 
act  of  filial  piety.  The  offerings  made  at  the  sacrifice,  consisting  of 
money,  gold  and  silver  paper,  were  distributed  among  the  villagers, 
of  whom  three  hundred  of  the  bravest  men  joined  them  in  their 
expedition.  A  wealthy  horse  trader  gave  them  in  addition  500 
ounces  of  silver  and  gold  as  well  as  a  thousand  pounds  of  steel  and 
iron  besides  fifty  war  horses,  and  they  began  at  once  to  manufacture 
arms  for  their  little  company. 

The  legitimate  ruler,  the  son  of  Ling  Ti,  had  ascended  the 
throne  as  a  child,  and  he  remained  a  weakling  in  the  hands  of  his 
courtiers.  Once  when  he  had  assembled  the  dignitaries  of  the  em- 
pire in  audience,  a  storm  suddenly  swept  through  the  palace  bearing 
away  part  of  the  hall  and  exhibiting  under  the  roof  an  immense 
snake.  Very  soon  afterwards  an  earthquake  frightened  the  people, 
and  a  Taoist  magician  Ch'ang  Chio  organised  the  rebellion  of  the 
Yellow  Caps. 

Kwan  -Yii  makes  his  debut  in  the  imperial  armies  in  a  fight  with 
Hua  Hsiung,  the  rebel  hero,  which  is  most  vividly  described.  The 
champion,  Hua  Hsiung,  was  vaunting  in  front  of  the  army,  and  the 
princes  were  deliberating  in  their  tent  whom  they  should  send 
against  him.  He  had  just  slain  two  bold  heroes  opposed  to  him, 
and  their  hearts  sank  with  misgiving.  The  general,  Shao,  said, 
"Alas,  my  chief  generals,  Yen  Liang  and  Wen  Chou,  have  not  yet 
come.  If  we  only  had  a  man  here,  we  need  not  fear  Hua  Hsiung." 
Before  he  had  finished  speaking,  from  the  step  which  led  into  the  tent 
a  loud  voice  called  out,  'T  will  go,  will  cut  off  Hua  Hsiung's  head 
and  present  it  before  your  tent."  They  all  looked  at  him  and  saw 
a  man  who  stood  nine  feet  in  height,  with  a  beard  two  feet  long. 
His  face  was  like  brown  dates  and  his  lips  like  cinnabar,  with  eyes 
like  the  red  phenix,  and  his  bushy  brows  seemed  to  invite  silkworms 
to  nestle  there.    Stern  and  lofty  was  his  countenance,  and  his  bear- 


158 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


ing  awful  and  menacing.  His  voice  was  like  the  peal  of  a  gre-jt 
bell.^ 

While  the  stranger  stood  before  the  tent,  Shao  asked:  "Who 
is  this?"  Kung  Sim  Tsan  said,  "This  is  Liu  Hsiian  Teh's  brother, 
Kwan  Yii."  Shao  asked,  "What  rank  does  he  hold?"  Tsan  re- 
plied, "He  follows  Hsiian  Teh  as  a  mounted  bowman." 

Then  YiAan  Shu  cried  angrily  from  the  tent,  "Do  you  wish  to 


CHANG    FEI. 

The  youngest  of  the  Covenant 
Brethren,  a  brave  reckless  warrior. 


CHU    KO    LIANG. 

The  Moltke- Bismarck  of  Hsiien  Teh, 
revered  as  the  model  of  loyalty. 


flaunt  our  princes  with  the  want  of  a  general?  How  is  it  that  a 
common  bowman  dares  to  trifle  in  this  presence  ?"  But  Ts'ao  Ts'ao 
hurriedly  stopped  him  saying:  "He  must  be  a  brave  man  to  speak 
so  boldly,  and  methinks  you  would  do  well  to  try  him.  If  he  does 
not  succeed  it  will  be  time  enough  to  rebuke  him." 

"But,"  Yiian  Shao  objected,  "if  we  send  a  mere  bowman  to 
fight,  Hua  Hsiung  will  laugh  at  us." 

^  Note  here  the  repetition  of  the  description  of  our  hero,  a  feature  of  the 
narrative  which  is  also  quite  common  in  Homer. 


THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM. 


159 


Ts'ao  Ts'ao  replied,  "This  man's  appearance  and  bearing  are 
uncommon.    How  should  Hua  Hsiung  know  he  is  only  a  bowman  ?" 

''If  I  do  not  conquer  let  me  be  beheaded  myself,"  said  Kwan 
Yii. 

Upon  this,  Ts'ao  Ts'ao  heated  a  cup  of  wine  to  give  him  as  he 
mounted  his  horse.  "Pour  out  the  wine,"  said  Kwan  Yii,  "I  go 
before  I  drink  and  shall  be  back  directly." 


#, 


SUN    CHIEN 

A  baron  who  made  himself  king  of  the 
kingdom  of  Wu. 


TS'AO   TS*AO. 

In  history  a  man  of  strength  and 

character,  who  in  the  story,  however, 

plays  the  part  of  the  villain. 


Kwan  Yii  left  the  tent,  took  his  swora,  flew  on  to  his  horse, 
and  the  princes  heard  without  the  gate  the  thundering  sound  of 
drums  and  the  clamorous  shouts  rising,  as  though  the  heaven  was 
moved,  as  though  the  earth  had  fallen  in ;  it  was  like  the  shaking 
of  lofty  peaks  and  downfall  of  mountains.  They  all  trembled  with 
alarm,  but  before  they  could  inquire  what  had  happened,  the  tinkling 


l6o  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

bells  jingled  as  the  horse  came  back  into  the  ranks,  and  Yiin  Ch'ang 
appeared  with  the  head  of  Hiia  Hsiung  and  threw  it  on  the  ground. 
And  his  wine  was  still  warm.  He  had  done  it  in  the  time  which  it 
took  the  cup  of  wine,  poured  out  before  he  started,  to  be  cool  enough 
to  drink.* 

After  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  a  new  danger  arose  in 
Ts'ao  Ts'ao,  hithertft  a  prominent  councilor  of  the  emperor,  who 
usurped  the  power  of  the  government.  He  is  the  villain  of  the 
story  and  is  represented  as  a  crafty  intriguer  who  made  himself  the 
king  of  Wei.  He  proposes  to  suppress  the  Covenant  Brethren  and 
actually  succeeds  in  having  Kwan  Yiin  Ch'ang  slain.  He  himself, 
however,  finally  dies  falling  a  victim  to  his  suspicion  of  the  honesty 
of  the  skilful  surgeon  Hua  T'o. 

Dr.  Hua  T'o  is  an  interesting  character,  a  kind  of  Chinese 
^sculapius,  who  according  to  the  legend  employed  anesthetics  long 
before  their  official  introduction  into  European  medicine.  The  story 
relates  that  Ts'ao  Ts'ao  had  been  struck  on  the  head  by  the  spirit 
of  a  pear  tree  when  he  attempted  to  chop  the  tree  down.  Suffering 
agonies  from  the  blow,  an  officer  of  his  staff  recommended  to  him 
the  famous  physician,  saying,  "Dr.  Hua  is  a  mighty  skilful  physician, 
and  such  a  one  as  he  is  not  often  to  be  found.  His  administration  of 
drugs,  and  his  use  of  acupuncture  and  counter-irritants  are  always 
followed  by  the  speedy  recovery  of  the  patient.  If  the  sick  man  is 
suffering  from  some  internal  complaint  and  medicines  produce  no 
satisfactory  result,  then  Dr.  Hua  will  administer  a  dose  of  hashish, 
under  the  influence  of  which  the  patient  becomes  as  if  he  were  in- 
toxicated wnth  wine.  He  now  takes  a  sharp  knife  and  opens  the 
abdomen,  proceeding  to  wash  the  patient's  viscera  with  medicinal 
liquids,  but  without  causing  him  the  slightest  pain.  The  washing 
finished  he  sews  up  the  wound  with  medicated  thread  and  puts  over 
it  a  plaster,  and  by  the  end  of  a  month  or  twenty  days  the  place  has 
healed  up.     Such  is  his  extraordinary  skill." 

Without  entering  into  accounts  of  the  supernatural  skill  of  the 
doctor,  we  will  only  state  that  he  was  called  into  the  presence  of 

*This  passage  is  taken  almost  literally  from  the  novel  according  to  the 
translation  of  Rev.  Geo.  T.  Candlin  in  Chinese  Fiction,  pp.  24,  26.  Chicago: 
The  Open  Court  Publishing  Co.,  1898. 


THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM. 


i6i 


Ts'ao  Ts'ao  and  diagnosing  his  case,  said :  ''The  pain  in  your  High- 
ness's  head  arises  from  some  wind,  and  the  seat  of  the  disease  is 
the  brain,  where  the  wind  is  collected,  unable  to  get  out.  Drugs 
are  of  no  avail  in  your  present  condition,  for  which  there  is  but  one 
remedy.  You  must  first  swallow  a  dose  of  hashish,  and  then  with 
a  sharp  axe  I  will  split  open  the  back  of  your  head  and  let  the  wind 
out.     Thus  the  disease  will  be  exterminated/' 


HUA    T^O. 
The  famous  surgeon. 


TIAO    CH'AN. 
The  beautiful  slave-girl. 


Ts'ao  Ts'ao  flew  into  a  great  rage,  and  declared  that  it  was 
a  plot  aimed  at  his  life;  to  which  Dr.  Hua  replied,  "Has  not  your 
Highness  heard  of  Kwan  Yii's  wound  in  the  right  shoulder?  I 
scraped  the  bone  and  removed  ^the  poison  for  him  without  a  single 
sign  of  fear  on  his  part.  Your  Highness's  disease  is  but  a  trifling 
affair;  why,  then,  so  much  suspicion?" 

"You   may   scrape   a   sore   shoulder-bone,"   said   Ts'ao   Ts'ao, 


l62  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

"without  much  risk;  but  to  split  open  my  skull  is  quite  another 
matter.  It  strikes  me  now  that  you  are  here  simply  to  avenge  your 
friend  Kwan  Yii  upon  this  opportunity."  He  thereupon  gave  orders 
that  the  doctor  should  be  seized  and  cast  into  prison. 

There  the  unfortunate  surgeon  soon  afterwards  died,  but  be- 
fore very  long  Ts'ao  Ts'ao  himself  succumbed  to  his  illness.  His 
son  Ts'ao  P'ei  succeeded  him  on  the  throne  of  Wei  and  then  forced 
the  weak  emperor  to  abdicate  in  his  favor. 

This  was  the  time  for  Hsiian  Teh  to  come  to  the  front.  He  now 
claimed  the  empire  as  a  descendant  of  the  house  of  Han  and  held 
his  own  as  long  as  he  had  at  his  side  Chu  Ko  Liang,  the  ablest 
strategist  and  diplomat  of  the  age,  a  Moltke  and  Bismarck  in  one 
person.  This  statesman  was  the  main  support  of  the  emperor,  but 
when  he  died,  the  empire  was  lost. 

Under  the  rule  of  the  child-emperor  the  general  Tung  Cho  had 
for  some  time  been  omnipotent,  but  he  misused  his  power  in  the  most 
outrageous  way,  torturing  and  executing  the  worthiest  persons  while 
he  himself  was  banqueting  with  the  horror-stricken  magistrates  of 
,the  government.  Then  a  beautiful  slave  girl  of  Wang  Yiin  named 
Tiao  Ch*an  devised  a  plan  to  rid  the  empire  of  the  monster.  She 
entered  the  house  of  the  bloodthirsty  general  and  by  her  artful  be- 
havior excited  the  passion  of  both  son  and  father.  Her  intrigue 
succeeded,  and  General  Tung  Cho  fell  a  victim  to  his  son's  jealousy. 

The  story  is  full  of  thrilling  episodes  and  extends  over  a  period 
of  seventy-nine  years.  It  relates  the  tragic  end  of  the  house  of 
Han  and  the  division  of  the  empire  into  the  three  kingdoms  of  Wei 
in  the  north,  Wu  in  the  east,  and  Shuh  in  the  west.  After  the  death 
of  Hsiian  Teh,  his  son  ascended  the  throne,  but  he  was  too  weak  to 
assert  himself  and  finally  succumbed  to  Ts'ao  Mao,  king  of  Wei, 
the  grandson  of  Ts^ao  Ts^ao,  who  again  united  the  three  kingdoms 
and  established  the  Wei  dynasty. 

The  author  of  the  "Three  Kingdoms"  is  Lo  Kuan  Chung,  but 
nothing  is  known  of  him,  and  his  name  is  but  an  empty  word.  The 
story  itself  takes  the  place  of  a  national  epic,  for  all  its  characters 
are  living  presences  in  the  imagination  of  the  people.  Kwan  Yiin 
Ch'ang  has  become  identified  with  popular  Chinese  deities.     He  is 


THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM. 


163 


worshiped  as  the  god  of  war,  Kwan  Ti,  but  is  invoked  by  all  people 
in  any  of  the  different  affairs  of  life,  and  there  is  no  town  or 
village  but  possesses  a  temple  in  his  honor.  Chu  Ko  Liang,  the 
great  statesman  and  general,  is  still  considered  the  model  of  loyalty, 
and  his  name  has  become  an  emblem  of  faithful  performance  of  duty 
in  office. 

Professor  Giles  says:  ''If  a  vote  were  taken  among  the  people 
of  China  as  to  the  greatest  among  their  countless  novels,  the 
'Story  of  the  Three  Kingdoms'  would  indubitably  come  out  first," 


A  MANDARIN  S  HOUSEHOLD. 


326 


and  the  Rev.  George  T.  Candlin  in  his  Chinese  Fiction  speaks  of 
its  author  Lo  Kwan  Chung  in  these  terms:  "This  writer  is  great. 
He  loves  his  characters,  they  are  living  and  distinct,  each  has  his 
individuality  and  separate  portraiture:  Ts'ao  Ts'ao,  subtle,  treach- 
erous ;  Kwan  Yiin  Ch'ang,  brave,  generous ;  Ch'ang  Fei,  rash,  coarse, 
but  true ;  Hsiian  Teh,  thoughtful,  kingly.  They  are  men ;  loving, 
hating,  striving,  boastful,  magnanimous,  often  doing  generous  deeds, 
always  their  hearts  throbbing  with  strong  human  passion.  Then, 
how  he  has  contrived  to  image  all  the  life  and  all  the  manners  of  the 


164 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


age!  How  fond  he  is  of  incidents  and  genealogies,  and  with  what 
loving  tenderness  of  reiterated  mention  he  dwells  on  this  and  on 
that!  Hsia  Hou  Tun  swallowing  his  own  eyes,  Yu  Chi's  priest- 
craft, Hua  To's  magic  in  surgery,  Kung  Min's  harp,  Yun  Ch'ang's 
sword,  Lu  Pu's  spear,  and  the  famous  horse,  Red  Hare,  that  'would 
go  a  thousand  //  in  a  day  and  cross  water  and  mount  hills  as  though 
on  even  ground.'  " 

SOCIAL   CONDITIONS. 

China  differs  widely  in  its  habits,  history,  language,  literature, 
tradition,  and  religion  from  any  one  of  the  European  races  in  the 


A  MANDARIN  S  BANQUET. 


Old  World  as  well  as  in  America  and  Australia.  The  contrast  be- 
tween rich  and  poor,  scholarly  and  illiterate,  the  powerful  and  the 
wretched,  is  mild  in  Europe  and  even  more  so  in  America  when 
compared  to  the  social  differences  of  China.  Yet  even  the  common 
people  have  a  high  regard  for  culture,  and  China  is  governed  by  an 
intellectual  aristocracy  called  the  mandarins,  that  have  to  pass  very 
severe  state  examinations  and  must  first  of  all  be  scholars  cr  literati. 


THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM. 


165 


It  may  be  a  mistake,  but  it  is  none  the  less  a  fact,  that  governors 
and  generals  must  prove  to  the  Commission  of  Examinations,,  not 
that  they  are  familiar  with  civics  or  warfare,  but  that  they  know  the 
classics,  write  a  good  style  and  can  compose  poetry. 

The  large  masses  of  the  population  are  very  poor,  and  there  are 


ENTRANCE  TO  THE  ESTATE  OF  A  WEALTHY  MANDARIN.  ^'^■ 

The  characters  of  the  inscription  on  top  read  "filial  piety"  and  "chastity."' 


everywhere  innumerable  individuals  who  are  almost  constantly  on 
the  point  of  starvation.  This  is  a  condition  produced  by  the  lack 
of  system  prevailing  in  China,  for  there  are  no  high  roads  in  the 
country,  no  means  of  an  easy  exchange  of  commodities,  no  good 


l66  ^      CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

money  of  intrinsic  value,  etc.  The  hungry  proletarians  do  not  know 
how  to  seek  relief  from  their  troubles,  and  so  they  band  themselves 
together  in  secret  societies  whose  avowed  aim  consists  in  the  resti- 
tution of  the  good  old  times  as  they  are  supposed  to  have  been  under 
the  Ming  dynasty. 

While  the  standard  of  morality  is  comparatively  high,  while 
there  is  a  great  respect  for  learning,  for  authority,  for  ideals  of  all 
noble  ambitions,  education  is  not  so  much  low  as  one-sided.  Knowl- 
edge of  natural  forces  or  of  any  practical  kind  is  almost  absolutely 
absent,  and  the  study  of  the  literature  of  ancient  China,  the  only 
knowledge  that  is  deemed  worthy  and  great,  costs  much  time  and 
renders  mandarins  frequently  unfit  for  practical  business. 

The  religions  of  China  are  not  lacking  in  noble  aspirations  and 
might  have  become  factors  for  good.  But  the  uncritical  state  of 
mind  which  is  produced  by  a  one-sided  education — it  is  not  a  lack 
of  education  but  rather  an  over-education — renders  the  Chinese  ex- 
tremely superstitious,  so  as  to  make  Buddhist  and  Taoist  priests 
vie  in  their  efforts  to  promote  the  general  credulity.  The  literati 
as  a  rule  are  simply  followers  of  Confucius,  whose  doctrines  are  a 
system  of  morality  based  upon  the  principle  of  authority,  otherwise 
neither  affirming  nor  denying  any  religious  truths  as  to  God,  the 
soul,  and  an  after  life. 

THE  THREE   RECOGNISED   RELIGIONS. 

Kircher's  large  w^ork  on  China  contains  a  picture  which  ex- 
cellently represents  the  religious  conditions  of  the  Celestial  Empire. 
It  has  been  copied  from  a  Chinese  drawing  which  is  not  at  our  dis- 
posal, but  must  have  been  made  more  than  two  centuries  ap"0,  viz., 
before  the  appearance  of  Kircher's  book. 

We  see  here,  seated  in  the  heaven,  the  three  great  teachers, 
recognised  as  the  highest  authorities  of  truth :  Buddha  in  the  center, 
Confucius  at  his  right,  and  Lao  Tze\at  his  left.  Confucianism  is 
the  recognised  State  religion,  if  religion  it  can  be  called.  Taoism, 
represented  by  Lao  Tze,  is  the  indigenous  faith  of  China,  while 
Buddhism  is  the  hope  for  salvation,  a  doctrine  that  has  been  brought 
to  the  country  by  Indian  missionaries. 


THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM. 


167 


THE  THREE  GREAT  TEACHERS  OF  CHINA. 


l68  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

The  dragon,  the  symbol  of  heaven,  representing  divine  power 
and  authority,  stands  in  the  center  of  the  picture  (f).  It  is  the  coat 
of  arms  of  the  government,  and  it  here  carries  on  its  back  the  shell 
of  the  tortoise,  which  is  mysteriously  connected  in  the  old  traditions 
of  China  with  the  invention  of  writing.  The  dragon  seems  to  ad- 
dress Confucius,  and  if  this  attitude  is  intentional  it  can  only  mean 
that  it  communicates  to  the  sage  the  mysteries  of  the  Yih  King,  the 
Book  of  Changes. 

Above  Confucius  we  see  three  sages  (d,  d,  d,)  :  above  Lao  Tze 
a  crowned  hero  (e),  holding  in  his  hand  a  sword  and  dressed  in  a 
coat  of  mail.  The  former  seem  to  represent  the  great  authorities 
of  the  Confucian  school,  Wen  Wang,  Wu  Wang,  and  Chou  Kung 
(the  duke  of  Chou)  ;  the  military  divinity  must  be  Kwan  Ti,  the 
god  of  war. 

Underneath  Confucius  we  have  a  general  and  a  soldier  (g,  g.) 
as  personifications  of  the  government,  representing  the  mailed  fist 
of  Chinese  paternalism. 

Underneath  Lao  Tze  there  are  his  disciples  Chwang  Tze,  Lieh 
Fuh  Tze,  and  Liu  Ngan,  the  great  Taoist  philosophers  (h). 

At  the  bottom  of  the  picture  we  see  lower  divinities  rising  from 
the  waves  of  the  sea.  One  of  them,  on  the  left-hand  side(L),  offers 
up  a  gem;  another  one,  the  ruler  of  the  deep  (i)  carries  a  trident, 
while  the  middle  figure  in  the  group,  on  the  right  (k)  is  the  naga- 
raja,  producing  from  the  bottom  of  the  ocean  the  Avatamsaka  Books 
and  behind  him  is  an  attendant  (m). 

While  in  Europe  and  America  every  one  is  expected  to  have 
one  religion  only,  in  China  a  man  may  follow  Confucius,  have  faith 
in  Buddha,  and  believe  in  Lao  Tze  at  the  same  time. 

Japan  is  in  this  respect  like  China,  only  that  Taoism  is  replaced 
by  Shintoism,  and  the  latter,  a  kind  of  nature-cult  combined  with 
idealised  patriotism,  is  the  State  religion.  Every  family  takes  part 
in  the  several  Shinto  festivals,  private  as  well  as  public.  In  school- 
life  Confucius  is  revered,  and  in  both  countries,  China  and  Japan, 
there  is  scarcely  a  house  which  has  not  a  Buddhist  shrine  for  the 
satii'.faction  of  the  deeper  yearnings  of  the  soul. 


THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM.  169 

There  is  a  universality  in  this  reHgious  system  which  it  is  diffi- 
cult for  us  to  understand,  but  is  after  all  quite  natural. 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS. 

The  Western  foreigners  with  their  practical  science  might  have 
come  to  the  rescue  of  the  Chinese,  and  for  a  while  it  seemed  as  if 
they  would  become  the  leaven  that  should  leaven  the  dough  of  this 
stagnant  civilisation.  Adam  Schaal,  a  German  Jesuit,  gained  the 
ear  of  Shun  Chih,  and  Kang  Hi,  the  glorious  son  of  the  latter, 
introduced  many  important  reforms  at  the  instigation  of  Father 
Ricci  and  others.  But  an  unlucky  star  rose  over  the  Jesuit  missions. 
Jealousies  between  the  Dominicans  and  the  Jesuits  led  to  quarrels 
on  subjects  concerning  the  Jesuit  policy  of  yielding  to  the  Chinese 
the  right  to  regulate  their  mundane  affairs  according  to  their  own 
notions.  The  Jesuits  did  not  condemn  Confucius  as  a  pagan  and 
infidel  but  suffered  him  to  be  regarded  as  a  great  moral  teacher. 
They  further  translated  the  word  God  according  to  the  ancient 
Chinese  fashion  by  "Shang  Ti,"  "the  Lord  on  High,"  thus  indicating 
that  the  ancient  Chinese  authorities  had  not  been  absolutely  bare  of 
divine  grace.  The  pope  decided  against  the  Jesuits,  but  the  Dom- 
inicans had  little  reason  to  enjoy  their  victory,  for  the  Chinese 
authorities,  little  relishing  the  Dominican  spirit,  proscribed  Chris- 
tianity and  drove  even  the  Jesuit  converts  into  exile. 

Among  the  Protestant  missionaries  we-fnust  mention  Gutzlaff, 
a  native  Pomeranian,  as  especially  successful.  He  was  not  an  edu- 
cated man,  not  a  scholar,  and  scarcely  a  European.  His  books 
betray  a  gross  ignorance  in  many  respects  but  show  a  great  zeal 
for  the  cause  of  Christianity.  In  spite  of  his  shortcomings  he  must 
have  been  a  remarkable  man,  a  missionary  genius,  for  the  traces 
of  his  activity  can  be  recognised  in  the  Tai  Ping  rebellion.  He 
certainly  must  have  understood  how  to  render  Christianity  palatable 
to  the  Chinese.  If  we  can  trust  the  reports  of  MM.  Gallery  and 
Yvan  he  was  a  Chinese  half-breed,  and  thus  Christianity  naturally 
assumed  in  him  a  Chinese  character. 

Dwelling  on  the  similarity  of  language  used  by  the  Christian 


THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM.  I7I 

Tai  Ping  rebels  and  Gutzlaff's  sermons,  this  remarkable  missionary 
is  thus  characterised  by  MM.  Gallery  and  Yvan: 

"M.  Giitzlaff  had  the  art  of  inspiring  the  Chinese  people  with 
the  greatest  confidence.  He  was  of  a  middle  stature,  and  tolerably 
stout ;  his  prominent  eyes  sparkled  beneath  thick  lashes,  which  were 
overshadowed  by  long  black  and  bushy  eye-brows.  His  face,  with 
features  the  reverse  of  angular,  and  its  light  olive  complexion, 
seemed  to  belong  to  that  variety  of  the  human  race  which  we  call 
the  Mongol.  In  his  Chinese  dress,  he  was  so  exactly  like  a  native, 
that  he  could  have  gone  through  the  streets  of  the  walled  city  of 
Canton  without  being  recognised. 

"One  evening,  during  our  stay  in  China,  we  spoke  of  him  to  the 
mandarin  Pan-se-tchen,  who  was  much  attached  to  him,  and  one  of 
us  expressed  his  astonishment  at  finding  in  a  European  the  char- 
acteristics of  the  Chinese  race.    The  mandarin  quietly  replied : 

"  'Nothing  can  be  more  natural.  Gutzlafif's  father  was  a  native 
of  the  Fo-Kien  settled  in  Germany.' 

"This  fact  appears  to  us  so  extraordinary,  that  we  should  hesi- 
tate to  relate  it  if  Pan  had  not  assured  us  that  M.  Gutzlaff  himself 
was  his  authority. 

"At  all  events,  whether  his  origin  was  Chinese  or  not,  M.  Gutz- 
laiT  perfectly  knew  how  to  adapt  himself  to  the  ideas  of  a  people 
who  are  at  once  sensual  and  mystical.  He  founded  in  China  a  sort 
of  secret  society  called  the  "Chinese  Union,"  the  object  of  which 
was  the  conversion  of  the  Chinese  to  Christianity  by  the  Chinese 
themselves." 

The  Chinese  are  not  naturally  averse  to  Christianity.  If  either 
the  Jesuit  fathers  or  men  like  Gutzlaflf  had  had  their  way,  China 
might  by  this  time  have  become  in  the  former  case  Roman  Catho- 
lic, in  the  latter  Protestant  Christian.  Christianity  in  China  has 
become  entangled  with  politics,  and  the  Christian  religion  is  re- 
garded by  the  Chinese  as  the  religion  of  the  red-haired  devils,  the 
barbarians,  the  immoral  foreigners  who  import  opium  and  ridicule 
the  most  sacred  traditions  of  the  nation.  Christianity  as  commonly 
presented  to  the  Chinese  is  not  the  Christianity  of  Jesus,  but  West- 
ern Christianity  of  some  sort  or  other,  and  to  all  outer  appearance 


172 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


the  rupture  with  Chinese  tradition  is  more  important  than  the  moral- 
ity of  the  Christian  faith.  A  great  number  of  Western  missionaries 
seem  to  think  that  they  must  change  the  Chinese  into  Europeans, 
otherwise  their  conversion  would  not  be  complete,  and  thus  they  fail 
in  their  efforts  toward  Christianising  the  country.  As  an  instance 
of  the  wrong  methods  of  missionarising  I  quote  a  passage  from  the 
Rev.  Hampden  C.  DuBose's  book  The  Dragon,  Image,  and  Demon, 
where  he  describes  the  Chinese  institution  of  preserving  the  family 
traditions  in  ancestral  halls,  forming  sacred  centers  for  family  life, 
and  though  family  traditions  are  sacred  to  us,  our  Christian  mis- 


PROCESSION  OF  LADIES  TO  THEIR  ANCESTRAL   HALL. 


321 


sionaries  proposed  to  destroy  them  as  pagan  in  China  and  request 
converts  to  renounce  them.     DuBose  says  (pp.  81  ff.)  : 

'These  buildings  are  not  so  conspicuous  as  the  idol  temples, 
but  they  are  very  numerous,  as  any  family  or  clan  may  have  its 
temple,  generally  marked  by  the  funeral  cedar.  Here  the  'spirit 
tablets'  of  departed  forefathers  are  kept,  'containing  the  simple  leg- 
end of  the  two  ancestral  names  carved  on  a  board,'  and  'to  the  child 
the  family  tablet  is  a  reality,  the  abode  of  a  personal  being  who  exerts 
an  influence  over  him  that  cannot  be  avoided,  and  is  far  more  to  him 
as  an  individual  than  any  of  the  popular  gods.    The  gods  are  to  be 


THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM.  ^^^73 

feared  and  their  wrath  deprecated,  but  ancestors  represent  love, 
care,  and  kindly  interest.'  If  the  clan  do  not  own  an  ancestral  hall, 
there  is  'in  every  household  a  shrine,  a  tablet,  an  oratory,  or  a 
domestic  temple,'  according  to  the  position  of  the  family.  It  is  a 
grand  and  solemn  occasion  when  all  the  males  of  a  tribe  in  their 
dress  robes  gather  at  the  temple,  perhaps  a  great  'country  seat,'  of 
the  dead,  and  the  patriarch  of  the  line,  as  a  chief  priest  of  the 
family,  offers  sacrifice. 

"In  these  halls  the  genealogical  tables  are  kept,  and  many  of 
the  Chinese  can  trace  their  ancestry  to  ten,  twenty,  thirty,  and  some- 
times even  to  sixty  generations.  These  registers  are  kept  with  great 
care,  and  may  be  considered  reliable. 

"Much  property  is  entailed  upon  these  ancestral  halls  to  keep 
up  the  worship,  but  as  this  expense  is  not  great,  all  the  family  have 
shares  in  the  joint  capital,  and  the  head  of  the  clan  sometimes  comes 
in  for  a  good  living.  At  baptism  converts  to  the  Christian  faith  re- 
nounce their  claim  to  a  share  in  this  family  estate  because  of  its  idol- 
atrous connections. 

"  'Should  a  man  become  a  Christian  and  repudiate  ancestral 
worship,  all  his  ancestors  would  by  that  act  be  consigned  to  a  state 
of  perpetual  beggary.  Imagine,  too,  the  moral  courage  required 
for  an  only  or  the  eldest  son  to  become  a  Christian,  and  call  down 
upon  himself  the  anathemas  not  only  of  his  own  family  and  friends, 
but  of  the  spirits  of  all  his  ancestors.' 

"When  we  preach  against  this  form  of  paganism  it  seems  as 
heathenish  to  the  Chinese,  as  if  at  home  we  taught  a  child  to  disobey 
his  father  and  despise  his  mother.  'It  forms  one  of  the  subtlest 
phases  of  idolatry — essentially  evil  with  the  guise  of  goodness — 
ever  established  among  men.'  " 

If  Christian  missionaries  cannot  find  a  way  in  which  they  can 
make  it  possible  for  converts  to  continue  to  honor  their  ancestors, 
if  they  are  bent  on  destroying  everything  properly  Chinese  and 
attempt  to  change  their  converts  into  imitations  of  European  cul- 
ture and  habit,  they  do  not  deserve  success  and  we  cannot  blame 
the  Chinese  Government  for  regarding  them  as  a  public  nuisance. 

The  author  is  not  opposed  to  missions,  nor  does  he  believe  that 


174  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

all  the  missionaries  of  China  are  guilty  of  the  errors  here  censured. 
He  knows  several  missionaries  and  cherishes  the  highest  respect 
for  them.  He  has  corresponded  with  some  of  them,  who  he  believes 
are  a  credit  to  their  country  and  to  the  faith  which  they  promulgate. 
The  fact  remains  nevertheless  that  there  are  great  numbers  of  mis- 
sionaries who  are  not  moved  by  the  right  spirit  and  among  them 
those  who  are  pious  Christians,  yet  lacking  in  tact,  lacking  in  edu- 
cation, lacking  in  wisdom,  who  exercise  perhaps  the  most  injurious 
influence  and  hurt  both  the  cause  of  their  religion  and  of  the  country 
whence  they  come. 

The  missionary  problem  is  perhaps  the  gravest  complication 
in  China,  but  the  hatred  of  the  Chinese  is  not  directed  against 
Christianity  as  such  but  against  the  religion  of  the  Western  for- 
eigners. It  is  true  there  are  passages  in  the  New  Testament  that 
are  extremely  offensive  to  the  Chinese,  for  instance  Luke  xiv.  26: 

"If  any  man  come  to  me,  and  hate  not  his  father,  and  mother, 
and  wife,  and  children,  and  brethren,  and  sisters,  yea,  and  his  own 
life  also,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple." 

A  broad  interpretation  of  these  words  might  surmount  the  diffi- 
culty, but  Christianity  as  commonly  preached  to  the  Chinese  implies 
a  rupture  with  their  most  sacred  traditions,  an  abandonment  of 
ancestor  worship,  i.  e.,  the  established  forms  in  which  family  tra- 
ditions are  kept  up.  It  further  implies  a  contempt  for  Confucius 
and  the  institutions  of  the  sages  of  yore  together  with  the  national 
character  of  the  Chinese.  Thus,  only  the  lowest  dregs  of  the  nation 
are  converted  and  most  of  them  for  sinister  purposes.  Sometimes 
these  converts  are  criminals  who  thereby  seek  to  shield  themselves 
against  the  severity  of  the  law;  for  as  many  missionaries  in  pious 
innocence  accept  the  statements  of  their  converts  in  good  faith,  it 
happens  that  burglars  and  thieves  are  baptised  and  then  protected 
by  the  interference  of  European  consuls  against  the  prosecution  of 
the  Chinese  authorities  which  is  ingeniously  assumed  to  be  instituted 
on  account  of  their  faith. 


THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM.  175 

WESTERN  INSOLENCE. 

In  addition  to  the  missionary  problem  there  is  the  commercial 
problem  which  serves  to  render  the  social  conditions  still  more  in- 
tolerable to  the  poor.  The  Western  trader  is  exempt  from  Chinese 
jurisdiction,  and  although  this  is  a  necessity  both  in  the  interest  of 
Western  residents  and  in  consideration  of  the  barbaric  methods  of 
punishment  as  well  as  the  summary  ways  of  dispensing  justice  in 
China,  it  increases  the  hatred  of  foreigners  in  a  high  degree.  Think 
of  it :  a  Chinaman  cannot  defraud  a  foreigner  without  being  severely 
punished ;  but  if  a  Chinaman  be  cheated  by  a  European  or  perhaps 
an  American  trader,  he  has  no  redress  whatever.  The  wronged 
Chinaman  can  go  to  the  ambassador  or  minister  of  the  nation  to 
whom  the  man  who  beat  him  or  cheated  him,  belongs,  but  the  am- 
bassador has  been  sent  to  protect  his  countrymen,  not  to  sit  in  court 
over  them  and  punish  them.  He  is  apt  to  hear  and  accept  the  state- 
ment of  his  countryman  and  cares  very  little  whether  or  not  the 
plaintiff  goes  away  satisfied. 

The  Chinese  are  upon  the  whole  very  reliable  in  business ;  even 
the  coolie  laborer  keeps  his  word,  and  Chinese  merchants  stick  to 
their  contract  though  it  may  be  merely  oral,  even  when  by  an  un- 
foreseen change  of  circumstances  they  should  be  the  losers. 

Maltreatment  of  the  Chinese  at  the  hands  of  Europeans  is  very 
common.  A  captain  who  in  a  German  port  had  whipped  a  Chinese 
deckhand  so  m.ercilessly  that  the  latter  tore  himself  loose,  and 
jumping  over  board  drowned  himself,  declared  before  court  that 
Chinese  hands  must  receive  the  barbarous  punishments  to  which 
they  are  accustomed  in  China,  otherwise  they  would  have  no  re- 
spect for  their  superiors.  No  investigation  would  be  held  if  sim- 
ilar accidents  or  deaths  on  account  of  cruel  treatment  occiirred  in 
Chinese  waters.  A  young  bank  employee  whom  the  writer  met  in 
traveling  endorsed  these  views  most  emphatically.  He  said:  "If  a 
Chinaman  does  not  at  once  make  room  for  me  in  the  street  I  would 
strike  him  with  my  cane  in  the  face."  "And  that  goes  unpunished  ?" 
I  ventured  to  ask  him.  "Should  I  break  his  nose  or  kill  him,  the 
worst  that  can  happen  would  be  that  he  or  his  people  would  make 


176 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


^'      (  ^  v| 


-^^     ^ 


%\    jL3i 


4  .^ 


A  CHINESE  COURT  SCENE. 

It  is  not  an  "unusual  occurrence  that  the  sons  of  crimmals  beg  the  judge 
to  be  allowed  to  take  upon  themselves  the  punishment  that  is  to  be  inflicted 
upon  their  fathers. 


THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM. 


177 


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iJWBiii'-b^.^.. 

ll9P!V*PiOi 

i 

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^mA 

pHJ^^^  '".iiiii 

.Tw^ 

6^ 

M^^^Bii^''                ^^^Hl 

178  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

complaints  to  the  Consul,  who  might  impose  the  fine  of  a  dollar 
for  misdemeanor,  but  I  could  always  prove  that  I  had  just  cause  to 
beat  him." 

The  Chinese  are  possessed  of  extraordinary  patience,  but  if 
their  patience  is  exhausted,  their  rage  knows  no  limits.  The  in- 
dignation of  the  Chinese  against  foreigners  has  been  smouldering 
for  a  long  time  and  the  ambassadors  at  Peking  received  many  warn- 
ings, but  they  could  not  believe  that  the  meek  Pekingese  would  ever 
dare  to  attack  them. 

Under  such  conditions  it  is  all  but  impossible  that  the  Chinese 
people  should  have  any  respect,  let  alone  love  or  admiration,  for 
Western  civilisation ;  and  yet  on  the  other  hand  it  is  quite  natural 
that  a  great  rebellion  should  break  out  which  was  at  the  same  time 
a  national  Chinese  reaction  against  the  Tartar  tyrants  and  a  Chris- 
tian movement  such  as  was  the  Tai  Ping  rebellion. 

THE  TAI  PING  REBELLION. 

The  rebellion  in  China,  which  broke  out  in  1850  and  was  finally 
suppressed  in  1864  by  General  Gordon,  was  the  product  of  all  the 
factors  that  oppose  the  present  Chinese  Government.  It  was  national 
Chinese  as  opposed  to  the  Tartar  usurpers;  it  was  Christian,  but  it 
was  a  Chinese  Christianity  after  the  fashion  of  Gutzlaff,  not  dressed 
in  European  broadcloth,  and  using  the  terms  of  the  Protestant  trans- 
lation of  the  New  Testament.  There  were  several  leaders  at  the 
head  of  the  movement,  but  two  were  of  special  prominence,  Tien 
Teh  (Heavenly  Virtue),  a  person  who  claimed  to  be  a  descendant 
of  the  ancient  Ming  dynasty,  and  Hung  Hsiu  Chilian,  a  Christian 
who  called  himself  Tien  Wang,  or  Heavenly  King.  The  former 
was  nominally  the  emperor-elect  of  the  rebels,  but  he  seems  to  have 
been  a  mere  figure-head,  and  after  his  death  the  latter,  the  real  soul 
of  the  rebellion,  became  the  acknowledged  head  of  all. 

The  Tai  Ping  rebellion  might  have  succeeded  had  not  the  Eng- 
lish Government,  trying  to  ingratiate  itself  with  the  Chinese  author- 
ities, offered  their  best  general  to  help  them  to  suppress  the  Tai 
Ping.  The  fact  seems  strange  at  first  sight  that  a  Christian  nation 
should  suppress  a  Christian  movement  in  China  with  bayonets  and 


THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM. 


179 


guns;  but  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  Christianity  of  the  Tai 
Ping  rebels,  not  being  the  Europeanised  Christianity  of  the  Enghsh 
missionaries,  was  regarded  as  spurious,  and  thus  the  EngHsh  gov- 
ernment cherished  grave  doubts  as  to  the  advantages  which  she 
would  reap  if  in  the  place  of  the  hated  Tartar  dynasty  the  Chinese 
would  be  governed  by  a  Christian,  but  none  the  less  a  Chinese  ruler. 
An  indigenous  dynasty  would  probably  pursue  a  policy  that  would 
be  more  hostile  to  foreign  traders  than  the  Tartar  dynasty  was,  who 


i''^  Js^ 


-^ 


TIEN  TEH,  THE  PRETENDER  OF  THE  TAI  PING  REBELLION. 


on  this  occasion  might  be  taught  how  useful  to  them  an  English 
alliance  would  be.  On  the  other  hand.  Christian  China  would  have 
a  claim  to  considerations  such  as  no  one  thinks  of  granting  the  old 
pagan  China. 

Sir  George  Bonham  visited  the  rebels  and  gave  an  account  of 
their  character  which  seems  to  have  had  much  weight  with  the 
British  Government.     He  says: 


i8o 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


"I  found  the  insurgents  had  established  a  kind  of  government 
at  Nankin,  consisting,  in  the  first  place,  of  Taeping,  the  Sovereign 
Ruler,  who  is  supposed  by  the  believers  of  the  new  sect  (if  such  do 
really  exist)  to  hold  the  position  or  rank,  either  spiritually  or  in  a 
corporeal  sense,  of  younger  brother  of  Our  Saviour.  There  was 
little  attempt  at  mystery  as  to  Taeping's  origin  on  the  part  of  the 
insurgents, — it  was  admitted  by  several  parties  that  he  was  a  literary 
graduate  of  Canton  province,  who,  being  disappointed  in  his  literary 


r ■    - 

4 

^- 

,.A^ 

^^g^^ 

>^     / 

bI.^ 

■^ 

^,  .-.M 

■    hW' 

i^Y,;-.v-,,     ...      ; :-. 

iMM^-^d 

r^--' 

BP*^ 

PORCELAIN    TOWER   AT   NANKING.* 


honors,  took  to  what  the  Chinese  are  in  the  habit  of  calling  'strange 
doctrine,'  that  is,  he  studied  the  missionary  tracts,  copies  of  which 
were  procured,  there  can  be  little  doubt,  from  the  late  Dr.  Gutzlaff's 
Union.  Taeping  and  his  small  nucleus  of  adherents  then  embarked 
in  this  insurrection,  and,  after  three  years'  perseverance  and  general 
success,  they  ended  by  capturing  Nankin  and  Chin-Keang,  where 
we  found  them  now  in  full  force.  Under  this  Sovereign  Ruler  are 
the  five  princes  above  alluded  to,  first  and  second  ministers,  and  a 

*  The  famous  tower,  commonly  counted  among  the  seven  wonders  of  the 
world,  was  destroyed  by  the  Tai  Ping  Rebels  who  saw  in  it  a  monument  of 
idolatry  and  regarded  it  as  an  abomination  in  the  eyes  of  God. 


THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM. 


i8i 


host  of  so-called  mandarins — most  of  whom  are  Cantonese.  I  should 
not  estimate  their  force  of  real  fighting  men  at  less  than  25,000 ; 
though  I  believe  that  of  the  original  number  who  started  from 
Kouang-Si,  not  more  than  7000  are  now  with  Taeping." 

Sir  George  Bonham  translates  also  the  answer  which  the  leader 
of  the  Tai  Ping  rebels  gives  to  the  English  embassy  sent  to  him, 
and  this  answer,  though  full  of  benevolence  for  the  English,  leaves 
no  doubt  that  according  to  the  ancient  Chinese  tradition  he,  the 
Tai  Ping  Emperor,  regards  all  nations  as  his  subjects. 


PUNISHMENT  OF  SYMPATHISERS   WITH   THE   TAI  PING. 


"The  Heavenly  Father,  the  Supreme  Lord,  the  Great  God,  in 
the  beginning  created  heaven  and  earth,  land  and  sea,  men  and 
things,  in  six  days ;  from  that  time  to  this  the  whole  world  has  been 
one  family,  and  all  within  the  four  seas  brethren ;  how  can  there 
exist,  then,  any  difference  between  man  and  man ;  or  how  any  dis- 
tinction between  principal  and  secondary  birth?  But  from  the  time 
that  the  human  race  has  been  influenced  by  the  demoniacal  agency 
which  has  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  they  have  ceased  to  acknowl- 
edge the  great  benevolence  of  God  the  Heavenly  Father  in  giving  and 


l82  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

sustaining  life,  and  ceased  to  appreciate  the  infinite  merit  of  the  ex- 
piatory sacrifice  made  by  Jesus,  our  Celestial  Elder  Brother,  and 
have,  with  lumps  of  clay,  wood,  and  stone,  practised  perversity  in 
the  world.  Hence  it  is  that  the  Tartar  hordes  and  Elfin  Huns  so 
fraudulently  robbed  us  of  our  Celestial  territory  (China).  But, 
happily,  our  Heavenly  Father  and  Celestial  Elder  Brother  have  from 
an  early  date  displayed  their  miraculous  power  amongst  you  Eng- 
lish, and  you  have  long  acknowledged  the  duty  of  worshiping  God 
the  Heavenly  Father  and  Jesus  our  Celestial  Brother,  so  that  the 
truth  has  been  preserved  entire,  and  the  Gospel  maintained. 

"But  now  that  you  distant  English  'have  not  deemed  myriads 
of  miles  too  far  to  come,'  and  acknowledge  our  sovereignty,  not  only 
are  the  soldiers  and  officers  of  our  Celestial  dynasty  delighted  and 
gratified  thereby,  but  even  in  high  heaven  itself  our  Celestial  Father 
and  Elder  Brother  will  also  admire  this  manifestation  of  your  fidel- 
ity and  truth.  We  therefore  issue  this  special  decree,  permitting 
you,  the  English  chief,  to  lead  your  brethren  out  or  in,  backwards 
or  forwards,  in  full  accordance  with  your  own  will  or  wish,  whether 
to  aid  us  in  exterminating  our  impish  foes,  or  to  carry  on  your  com- 
mercial operations  as  usual ;  and  it  is  our  earnest  hope  that  you  will, 
wath  us,  earn  the  merit  of  diligently  serving  our  royal  master,  and, 
with  us,  recompense  the  goodness  of  the  Father  of  Spirits. 

"Wherefore  we  promulgate  this  new  decree  of  (our  Sovereign) 
Taeping  for  the  information  of  you  English,  so  that  all  the  human 
race  may  learn  to  worship  our  Heavenly  Father  and  Celestial  Elder 
Brother,  and  that  all  may  know  that,  wherever  our  royal  master  is, 
there  men  unite  in  congratulating  him  on  having  obtained  the  de- 
cree to  rule. 

"A  special  decree,  for  the  information  of  all  men,  given  (under 
our  seals)  this  26th  day  of  the  3d  month  of  the  year  Kweihaou  ( ist 
May,  1853),  under  the  reign  of  the  Celestial  dynasty  of  Taeping." 

The  friendship  of  the  Chinese  authorities  with  the  British  Gov- 
ernment soon  began  to  subvert  the  confidence  of  the  Chinese  in 
their  rulers,  and  the  secret  societies  again  increased  in  power,  finding 
supporters  even  among  the  highest  mandarins  and  princes  of  im- 


THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM.  /         l8 

perial  blood.  Emperor  Kwang  Hsii^  was  suspected  of  being  a  friend 
of  Western  civilisation,  and  the  late  Empress  Dowager  Hsi  Tai  Hou 
favored  the  partisans  of  national  traditions. 

According  to  the  rules  of  filial  piety  so  deeply  engraved  on  the 
hearts  of  the  Chinese  people,  the  highest  virtue  is  obedience  to 
parents.  Thus  it  happens  that  the  Emperor's  first  duty  is  respect 
for  the  wishes  of  his  mother,  or  of  her  who  stands  in  the  relation  of 
mother  to  him.  This  is  the  reason  why  the  Empress  Dowager  so 
long  as  she  lived,  was  de  facto  ruler  of  China. 

The  Empress  knew  that  the  dangers  which  threaten  the  throne 
of  the  Tartar  dynasty  through  the  secret  societies-at  home  were  more 
serious  than  the  threats  and  attacks  of  the  Western  powers.  She 
seems  to  have  saved  the  throne  by  allying  herself  with  the  secret 
societies  against  the  Powers  and  thus  demonstrating  to  her  subjects 
that  the  Tartars  are  solid  with  the  Chinese  against  the  foreign 
devils.  An  alliance  with  the  Powers,  or  merely  a  friendly  entente 
with  them,  might  have  roused  the  slumbering  lion  and  made  an  end 
of  the  Tai  Tsing  dynasty. 

THE  YELLOW  PERIL. 

China  possesses  a  peculiar  attraction  which  is  not  so  much  a 
problem  of  the  past  as  of  the  future.  Western  civilisation  in  its 
constant  expansion  has  taken  possession  of  five  continents.  It  not 
only  retains  Europe,  but  it  has  found  a  new  home  in  both  Americas. 
It  has  settled  Australia  and  sways  the  fate  of  Africa.  In  its  spread 
over  the  world  it  has  finally  invaded  Asia.  Siberia  is  in  Russian 
hands.  Hither  India  is  British,  and  Further  India  is  practically 
divided  between  the  English  and  the  French.  The  Aryan  race  is 
now  coming  into  contact  with  China  and  we  are  for  the  first  time 
aware  that  we  are  here  confronted  with  an  old,  respectable,  albeit 
stagnant  civilisation  which  will  not  so  easily  be  assimilated  as  others, 
and  the  inhabitants  are  both  industrious  and  docile ;  hence  the  yellow 
race  might  refuse  to  be  swallowed  up  and  might  even  in  its  turn 
exercise  an  influence  upon  the  white  man's  civilisation — a  very  un- 

*  The  private  name  of  the  Emperor,  which  however  would  be  deemed  im- 
proper to  use,  is  Tsai  T'ien. 


184  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

pleasant  prospect  for  all  those  who  believe  that  their  own  souls 
alone  have  been  anointed  by  the  grace  of  God, — a  prospect  which 
has  been  called  "the  yellow  peril."  If  we  were  just  we  would  grant 
that  the  white  peril  to  the  yellow  race  is  much  greater  than  the 
"yellow  peril"  to  the  white  race. 

A  study  of  China  is  of  practical  importance.  The  laws  that 
guide  mankind  are  everywhere  the  same.  All  men  are  everywhere 
confronted  with  the  same  problems  and  they  try  to  solve  them  by 
similar  methods.  We  have  the  same  instincts  and  even  the  successive 
phases  of  our  mental  growth  are  everywhere  analogous,  tending 
constantly  upward  and  onward.  The  heart  of  man  is  at  bottom  the 
same  everywhere.  There  are  sages  and  heroes  in  every  country. 
There  are  high-spirited  teachers,  and  at  the  same  time  there  are 
powers  of  evil  at  work  that  darken  the  light  and  impede  the  way  of 
progress. 

Though  we  may  be  the  strongest  race  and  be  in  possession  of 
the  most  accurate  methods  of  science  and  also  be  blessed  with  the 
most  liberal  institutions,  religious  as  well  as  political,  we  ought  to 
recognise  that  other  and  weaker  nations  are  flesh  of  our  flesh  and 
bone  of  our  bone.  They  are  our  brothers  and  their  social,  political 
and  religious  life  has  developed  according  to  the  same  laws  and 
is  bringing  forth  similar  blossoms  and  similar  fruits,  and  in  spite  of 
our  boasted  superiority  we  may  still  learn  from  them  in  many  details 
and  if  we  want  to  teach  them,  we  must  not  be  too  proud  first  lo 
know  them  and  appreciate  the  good  qualities  they  have. 

The  yellow  peril  is  not  so  much  a  fear  of  the  Asiatic  civili- 
sation as  of  the  Asiatic  race.  Our  pessimists  see  in  the  distant  future 
the  world  colonised  by  Chinamen,  and  an  excited  imagination  repre- 
sents them  in  the  shape  of  coolies  and  haggard-looking  laundrymen, 
who  are  expected  to  pour  in  to  take  the  place  of  Western  laborers. 
This  fear  is  in  so  far  justified,  as  Chinese  workmen  are  more  frugal, 
more  trusty,  more  industrious,  more  intelligent  than  Western  labor- 
ers ;  and  if  that  be  so,  the  Western  laborer  will  not  be  able  to  com- 
pete with  the  coolie. 

But  is  not  the  truth  here  rather  a  warning  and  a  lesson  than  a 
real  danger  to  the  interests  of  humanity?     Our  fear  is  based  not 


THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM.  185 

Upon  a  recognition  of  any  fearful  quality  of  the  yellow  race  but  upon 
a  recognition  of  their  many  virtues,  and  so  we  believe  that  the  future 
will  take  care  of  itself.  Perhaps  we  Western  races  will  find  it  wise 
if  the  yellow  races  have  learned  from  us,  to  learn  in  our  turn  also 
from  them.  Perhaps  we  may  deem  it  best,  instead  of  having  a  con- 
tempt for  other  races,  to  understand  what  gives  them  their  strength, 
and  by  appreciating  their  good  qualities  we  may  be  in  a  condition  to 
prevent  future  defeats  by  adopting  their  virtues. 

It  is  true  that  the  destinies  of  mankind  are  not  entrusted  to  any 
one  family  or  to  any  one  race  of  any  one  state  or  to  the  representatives 
of  one  special  type  of  civilisation.  We  have  seen  how  the  lead  of 
mankind  has  changed  since  the  dawn  of  civilisation.  There  was  a 
time  when  the  black-heads  of  Akkad  and  Sumer  in  lower  Mesopota- 
mia developed  the  foundation  of  civilised  life.  Of  what  race  they 
were  we  know  not ;  we  are  only  sure  that  they  were  neither  Semites 
nor  Aryans,  and  may  have  been  Turanians  or  members  of  the  great 
Mongolian  family.  These  primitive  people  who  had  settled  in  the 
valley  of  the  two  rivers  were  not  so  numerous  as  the  Sernitic  tribes, 
born  of  the  Arabian  desert,  and  they  must  have  recognised  the 
threatening  danger  when  Babylonians  crowded  them  out  of  their 
homes,  when  they  supplanted  their  language  by  a  Semitic  dialect 
and  finally  inherited  their  country  and  civilisation.  It  may  be  that 
the  Semitic  Babylonians  saw  the  threatening  clouds  of  a  yellow  peril 
when  the  yellow-haired  race  of  Aryans  took  possession  first  of  Iran, 
then  Elam,  and  finally  acquired  dominion  over  Mesopotamia.  They 
became  acclimatised  in  Babylonia  and  became  soon  like  them  in  ap- 
pearance and  habits  of  life.  They  again  saw  a  yellow  peril  in  the 
purely  Aryan  Greeks.  The  Greeks  again  were  defeated  by  the  Ro- 
mans upon  whom  they  looked  as  barbarians,  and  Tacitus  is  very 
pessimistic  when  pointing  out  the  yellow  peril  of  the  North,  where 
the  yellow-haired  Teutons  lived  beyond  the  Rhine.  However,  when 
Rome  was  at  the  mercy  of  the  barbarians  of  the  North,  they  took 
hold  of  the  Roman  civilisation  and  carried  it  to  a  higher  plane,  de- 
veloping what  is  now  called  European  civilisation. 

American  civilisation  is  considered  as  a  purely  European  devel- 
opment, and  yet  Europe  is  afraid  of  "the  American  danger"  that 


l86  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

threatens  their  holy  institutions  and  may  in  time  Americanise  their 
business  and  also  their  public  and  private  life. 

All  these  several  fears  are  blind  alarms,  and  whenever  they 
were  well  founded,  the  change  that  came  was  for  the  better.  The 
god  of  history  gives  the  lead  to  those  nations  which  in  the  general 
struggle  for  life  prove  to  be  the  best,  the  most  energetic,  the  ablest. 
If  the  leading  nation  ceases  to  be  progressive,  if  she  refuses  to  learn, 
he  calls  another  one  to  take  her  place.  There  is  no  nation  that  ever 
fell  from  its  dominant  position  but  deserved  its  fate.  Changes  in 
history  (at  least  when  we  consider  all  the  conditions  that  lead  to 
them)  were  always  for  the  better  in  the  general  interest  of  mankind, 
and  the  evils  of  the  transitional  periods  were  small  if  compared  to 
the  progress  that  was  finally  attained. 

Now  the  Western  world  looks  with  fear  upon  the  yellow  peril 
that  might  threaten  the  world  from  East  Asia.  The  West  need 
not  be  alarmed,  for  China  is  too  conservative  to  be  transformed  so 
suddenly,  and  then  one  other  thing  is  sure,  that  there  is  danger  only 
if  the  yellow  nations  possess  sufficient  virtues  to  make  themselves 
formidable,  and  if  they  should  in  the  future  really  become  the  pre- 
dominant race,  they  can  take  the  lead  only  by  excelling  and  sur- 
passing the  representative  nations  of  the  West.  We  believe  that  this 
assumption  lies  at  such  a  distance  that  the  cry  of  alarm  seems  unwar- 
ranted, but  even  if  there  were  an  actual  danger,  a  possible  change  in 
the  present  balance  of  power,  there  is  no  need  of  fear,  since  the  sole 
condition  for  the  yellow  race  to  rise  into  prominence  would  consist 
in  the  great  task  (which  is  by  no  means  an  easy  one)  of  outdoing  all 
other  nations,  not  only  in  military  accomplishments,  but  also,  and 
mainly,  in  the  industrial  pursuits  of  peace. 


CONCLUSION. 

THE  Chinese  way  of  thinking,  especially  where  it  still  clings  to 
occultism  and  mysticism,  has  serious  faults,  yet  it  is  based  upon 
a  world  conception  which  is  not  only  rational  but  even  in  close  agree- 
ment with  some  leading  principles  of  Western  science;  and  there 
is  scarcely  a  superstition  in  Cathay  which  has  not  at  one  time  or 
another  prevailed  in  European  countries,  if  not  in  the  same,  at  least 
in  an  analogous  form.  We,  too,  had  the  measles  in  our  childhood ; 
so  we  have  no  reason  to  ridicule  the  Chinese  because  they  (or  at 
least  large  classes  of  the  population)  have  them  still. 

The  history  of  the  relations  between  Europe  and  China  exhibits 
a  series  of  blunders  both  on  the  side  of  the  Chinese  and  the  Euro- 
pean governments ;  and  the  root  of  the  evil  on  either  side  is  haughti- 
ness. 

It  is  reported  that  Emperor  Charles  V  in  his  old  days  used  to 
say: 

"Quantula  sapientia  mundus  regitur!" 
[With  what  little  wisdom  the  world  is  governed!! 

How  true  that  is !  If  the  men  that  fill  the  leading  positions  of 
the  world  would  only  use  a  little  discretion,  if  it  were  merely  the 
common  sense  of  a  pious  farmer  or  peasant  who  has  religion  enough 
to  be  afraid  to  do  wrong,  how  much  better  would  the  world  fare 
than  now  when  diplomats  claim  that  nations  are  not  bound  by  the 
moral  maxims  which  individuals  are  obliged  to  respect.  Think  what 
wrongdoing  might  have  been  avoided  by  a  little  dose  of  prudence 
in  modern  history !  Think  only  of  the  War  of  Secession  in  our  own 
country ;  the  money  it  cost  would  have  sufficed  to  buy  off  all  the 
slaves  several  times  over.    But  the  real  trouble  is  that  both  parties 


l88  CHINESE  THOUGHT. 

as  a  rule  are  impervious  to  reason,  and  their  conflict  becomes  in- 
evitable, each  side  having  the  advantage  to  declare  that  though  they 
themselves  be  wrong  in  many  respects,  their  adversaries  are  not  less 
blameworthy.  So  far,  the  best  argument  of  a  belligerent  party  has 
commonly  been  the  street-boy's  answer  to  his  antagonist :  ''You  are 
another !" 

The  Chinese  are  in  possession  of  a  very  ancient  civilisation ; 
they  know  it  and  are  proud  of  it.  But  Chinese  pride  is  outdone  by 
European  insolence,  and  thus  resulted  a  lamentable  state  of  affairs 
which  led  to  many  misunderstandings,  disturbances  and  wars.  The 
distrust,  hatred,  and  contempt  which  are  mutual  are  not  a  recent 
affair  but  the  product  of  centuries. 

Some  blame  the  missionaries  as  being  the  cause  of  all  trouble, 
others  the  greediness  of  the  powers,  still  others  would  condemn  the 
Chinese  for  their  haughtiness  and  stupidity.  Perhaps  there  is  some 
fault  all  around.  Neither  the  Chinese  nor  the  Western  people  are 
angels,  the  latter  especially  can  not  easily  be  whitewashed,  as,  for 
instance,  no  one  would  dare  to  defend  or  even  find  an  excuse  for 
the  Opium  War.  Yet,  if  we  claim  to  be  the  superior  race  let  us 
prove  it  by  superiority  of  behavior — not  merely  by  a  superiority  of 
our  guns  but  first  of  all  by  a  superiority  of  conduct.  It  is  certain 
that  had  our  diplomats  taken  the  trouble  to  study  the  Chinese  char- 
acter, many  severe  clashes  and  the  spilling  of  innocent  blood  as  well 
as  the  expenditure  of  enormous  sums  of  money  in  several  bitter  wars 
that  far  from  redressing  wrongs  only  served  to  make  matters  worse, 
might  have  been  avoided. 

It  will  be  easier  to  conquer  China  than  to  subdue  it,  and  should 
a  foreign  power  succeed  in  taking  it  (which  is  by  no  means  an  easy 
task),  the  conquerors  will  find  out  that  the  easiest  way  of  holding 
the  country  would  be  by  becoming  Chinese  themselves. 

From  the  standpoint  of  comparative  ethnology  and  especially 
ethnic  psychology,  a  knowledge  of  the  Chinese  mode  of  thinking 
is  of  great  importance ;  for  the  Chinese  are  so  different  from  all 
other  existing  nations  in  their  world  conception,  and  in  their  ways 
of  arguing,  as  well  as  living,  that  they  seem  to  have  developed  a 
type  of  humanity  of  their  own.    Yet  the  differences  are  only  in  ex- 


CONCLUSION.  189 

ternals  and  their  main  logical  as  well  as  moral  notions  are  practic- 
ally the  same  as  those  which  prevail  among  the  nations  of  Europe. 
Those  traits,  however,  which  are  different  are  deeply  rooted  in  the 
aboriginal  character  of  the  Chinese  nation  and  pervade  their  entire 
history.  These  strange  people  have  developed  on  different  lines, 
and  though  they  started  with  great  promise,  having  made  rapid 
strides  at  the  very  beginning  of  their  civilisation,  they  exhibited  a 
most  devout  reverence  toward  the  past  which  resulted  in  an  un- 
paralleled conservatism  in  their  national  institutions  that  worked 
as  a  brake  upon  progress,  and  rendered  their  further  evolution 
almost  stagnant.  Because  of  this  they  have  been  easily  overtaken  by 
the  younger  nations  of  the  West  who  were  still  barbarians,  nay, 
savages,  when  China  had  attained  a  high  grade  of  civilisation.  We 
should  not  forget  that  we  owe  to  China  all  the  inventions  which  in 
their  entirety  produced  the  latest  phase  of  our  civilisation,  viz.,  the 
invention  of  printing,  the  manufacture  of  paper,  the  use  of  the 
mariner's  compass,  and  last  but  not  least,  the  invention  of  gun- 
powder. Reports  of  these  inventions,  not  to  mention  others  of  less 
significance,  such  as  the  manufacture  of  porcelain,  silk  culture,  etc., 
had  reached  Europe  through  travelers  who  at  first  were  scarcely 
believed,  but  the  result  was  a  rediscovery  of  these  ancient  Chinese 
inventions  and  their  more  systematic  application  in  practical  life. 
While  the  Chinese,  almost  since  the  days  of  Confucius,  have  made 
little  advance  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  Europe  grew  rapidly  in 
knowledge,  wealth,  and  power,  having  now  reached  a  stage  which 
might  be  called  "the  age  of  science." 

It  is  difficult  for  us  to-day  to  understand  how  the  Chinese  can 
be  so  impervious  to  progress,  how  they  can  be  so  proud  of  their 
own  civilisation,  the  imperfections  of  which  appear  obvious  to  us. 
We  find  an  answer  to  these  problems  when  we  become  acquainted 
with  the  Chinese  mode  of  speaking,  writing,  and  thinking.  If  we 
want  to  comprehend  their  errors  we  must  know  that  these  are  but 
the  reverse  aspect  of  their  proficiencies,  and  their  faults  are  fre- 
quently misapplied  virtues.  We  shall  be  better  able  to  deal  with 
the  Chinese  when  we  study  their  character  as  a  whole  by  contem- 
plating the  dark  aspects  of  the  picture  as  the  shades  that  are  pro- 


IQO 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


duced  by  the  light  that  falls  upon  things.  In  this  sense  and  for  the 
purpose  of  furnishing  the  necessary  material  for  a  psychological 
appreciation  of  the  Chinese,  we  have  sketched  the  main  characteristic 
features  of  the  ideas  which  dominate  Chinese  thought  and  inspire 
Chinese  morality.  We  hope  that  we  have  helped  thereby  to  contribute 
a  little  toward  the  realisation  of  the  great  ideal  of  peace  on  earth 
and  good  will  among  men. 


INDEX. 


Agrippa  of  Nettesheim,  64. 

Ahura  Mazda  and  Asur,  95,  98. 

Ai,  Duke  of  Lu,  119. 

Albertus  Magnus,  64. 

All  Souls'  Day,  45. 

Ambrose,  St.,  107. 

Analects,  (Lun  Yu),  115,  116,  118. 

Ancestral  Hall,  172. 

Ancient    forms    of    Chinese    writing, 

5-8. 
Aquila,  The  star,  77. 
Arabian  zodiac,   103-104. 
Assyrian  standard,  96. 
Astrology,   and   astronomy,   89,    112; 

Babylonian,  88. 
Asur,  and  Ahura  Mazda,  95,  98;  and 

Sagittarius,  96,  97. 
Attributes,  Five,  15. 

Babylon,  67,  90. 

Babylonian  zodiac,  94. 

Bamboo  sticks,  notched,  2. 

Bats',  Five,  16,  17. 

Beauty,   ("great  sheep"),  9. 

"Blessing,"  The  character,  16;  Orna- 
mental use  of,  21,  22. 

Blessings,  The  Five,  14,  17. 

Boll,  Franz,  91  ff. 

Bonham,  Sir  George,  181 ;  on  the  Tai 
Ping,  179-180. 

Breastplate  of  high  priest,  39. 

Brightness,  9. 

Brush,  Invention  of,  4,  5,  151. 

Buddha,  166. 

Buddhist  monastery.  Gateway  to,  44. 

Buddhists,  Elements  of,  42. 

Bushel,  The.     See  Ursa  Major. 


Calendar   comes   from   Babylon,   90; 

reform,  52,  53. 
Gallery  and  Yvan,  171. 
Cancer  and  the  scarab,  107. 
Candlin,  Geo.  T.,  i6o  n. 
Canopus,  19. 

Capricorn,  emblem  of  Ea,  105. 
Chang  Fei,  155,  158. 
Charles  V,  Emperor,  187. 
Cheng   Tsai,    Mother   of    Confucius, 

115,  116. 
Chieh  sheng,  i,  2. 
Chih  Nil,  131 ;  daughter  of  sun-god, 

77- 
Children,  The  twelve,  53. 
Chinese  pocket  compass,  64,  66. 
Chinese  zodiac,  108-109. 
Ch'iu,  ("hill"),  115. 
Chou,  Duke  of,  116,  149. 
Chou  dynasty,  149. 
Chou  Hsin,  the  tyrant,  30,  149. 
Chou    Kung,    (the   Duke   of   Chou), 

149. 
Chou-Sin,  See  Chou  Hsin. 
Chou  T'ze,  philosopher,  154. 
Chou,  The  Yih  of,  28. 
Christ,  "the  Scarab,""  107. 
Chu   Hsi,   Biographer  of  Confucius, 

113  n.,  154. 
Chu  Ko  Liang,  158. 
Chuang  Tze,   117. 
Chung  Yung,  120. 
Colors,  Five,  15. 

Commission  of  Examinations,  165. 
Compass,  63,  64  ff. 
Confucius,  I,  35,  113  ff.,  168;  Homage 

to,  120,  121 ;  Temple  of,  at  Peking, 


192 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


114;  a  transmitter,  115;  Travels  of, 
118. 

Constellations,  Three,  13;  Twenty- 
eight,  62. 

Councilor  spirits,  The  three,  73. 

Court  scene,   176. 

Cowherd,  77. 

Crab,  Taurus  and  the,  98. 

Cuniform  writings,  81 ;  Zodiac  in,  94.' 

Daressy,  J.,  loi  n. 

Darius,  2. 

David,  38. 

Decimal  system  of  numbers,  85. 

De  Groot.     See  Groot,  F.  J.  de. 

Dendera,  Egyptian  zodiac  of,  98,  99, 

103. 
Destiny,  Tablet  of,  33-34- 
Dipper,  The.     See  Ursa  Major. 
Disk-norm,  58. 

Divination,  34fif.,  Outfit  for,  35. 
Diviners,    Professional,   55. 
Doketism,  85. 

DuBose,  Rev.  Hampden  C,  172. 
Duodenary  cycle,  50,  51. 

Ea,  Symbol  of,  105. 

Eight  kwa,  20. 

Elamites,  The,  100. 

Elements,  Five,  15,  41  ff. ;  of  the  Bud- 
dhists, 42;  of  Chinese  script,  12. 

Enmeduranki,  33,  34. 

Ephod,  37,  38,  39. 

Epiphanius,  St.,  107. 

"Eternal,"  typical  word,  12. 

European  compass,  63,  65,  66. 

Examinations,  Court  of,  153. 

Exchange  of  thought  in  prehistoric 
days,  2. 

Fa,   149. 

Family  relations  in  the  trigrams,  30, 

31. 
Father  of  Confucius,  K'ung  Shu,  115. 
Feng-Shui,  55  ff. 
Figures,  The  four,  27. 
Filial  piety,  24;  hsiao,  122  ff. 
Filials,  Twenty- four,   124  ff. 
Fishborn,  Captain,  18. 


Five,   elements,   41  ff. ;    The   number, 

14  ff. ;  rulers,  149. 
Foreign  embassies  at  Peking,  177. 
"Four,"    The    number,    14;    quarters, 

no. 
Fuh-Hi,  28  n.,  29,  31,  33,  36,  48,  59, 

149. 

Geoghegan,  Richard  H.,  86  f. 

Geomancer's  compass,  58. 

Giles,  Herbert  A.,  17  n.,  163, 

God,  shih,  4. 

Goldziher,  41  n. 

Gordon,  General,  18. 

Great  Plan,  46. 

Great  Wall,  The   153. 

Groot,  F.  J.  M.  de,  19  n.,  24  n.,  25  n., 

57. 
Grube,  Wilhelm,   154. 
Gutzlaff,  169,  171. 

Hairdress  of  the  Manchu,  153. 

Han  dynasty,  119,  152,  154. 

Heaven  and  earth.  Mystery  of,  33-34. 

Herodotus,  2,  45. 

Hexagram,  36. 

Hindu  zodiac,  75. 

Hirth,  Friedrich,  66. 

Hoary  characters.   The  ten,   53. 

Hokusai,  129. 

Homage  to  Confucius,  120,  121. 

Hommel,  98. 

Hsia  dynasty,  149. 

Hsiao,  Character,  122  f. 

Hsiian  Teh,  155,  156. 

Hsiian  T'sung,  Emperor,  120. 

Hua   T'o,   the   famous   surgeon,    160, 

161. 
Huang  Ti,  the  "Yellow  Emperor,"  28, 

53,  149- 
Hwang  Ti.    See  Huang  Ti. 

Ideals,  Five  eternal,  14  f.,  17. 
Interconnection,  84. 
Interrelation  of  elements,  47. 
Invention  of  brush  and  paper,  4. 
"It  is  finished."  119. 

Japan,  168. 

Jesuit  fathers,  79,  81. 

Justice,   ("my  sheep"),  9. 


INDEX. 


193 


Kan  Ying  P'ien,  72,. 

Kang  Hi,  79,  81. 

Kao  Tsou,  the  first  Han  emperor,  119. 

Keng  Niu,  the  herdsman,  yy. 

Kepler,  88;   on  astrology,  89. 

Knotted  cords,  i,  2. 

Ko  Chow  King,  astronomer  royal,  81. 

Krause,  Ernst   (Cams  Sterne),  90 n. 

Kudurru,  Cap  of  a,  93;  of  Nazi  Ma- 

radah,  92. 
K'ung  Shu,  father  of  Confucius,  115. 
K'ung-tze,    1 13  ff. 
Kwa,  26;  The  eight,  20,  28. 
K'wan,  46. 

Kwan  Yiin  Ch'ang,  155,  156. 
Kwang  Hsii,  Present  emperor,  183. 
Kwei  Ts'ang,  28. 

Lao  Tze,  i,  117,   168. 

Lacouperie,  Terrien  de,  2,  3,  4. 

Legge,  113  n.,  120. 

Leibnitz,  32. 

Li,  son  of  Confucius,  115. 

Liang  i,  25,  26. 

Lien  shan,  28. 

Li  Ki,  Book  of  Ritual,  119. 

Lin,  marvelous  animal,  115,  119 

Liu  An,  47. 

Liu  Pang,  152. 

Loh,  River,  2. 

Lo-king,  58. 

Lo  Kwan  Chung,  the  author  of  the 
"Three  Kingdoms,"   162  ,163. 

Lo-pan,  58  ff . 

Longevity,  Star  of,  19;  symbol  in 
different  styles,  19;  symbol.  Orna- 
mental use  of,  21,  22,  24;  tablet,  18. 

Louis  XIV,  81. 

Lu,  The  state,  113. 

Lun  Yii,  (''Analects"),  115,  116,  118. 

Magic  Square,  49. 
Mallery,  Garrick,  3, 
"Man,"  The  character,  9  f. 
Manchu,  The,  153. 

Mandarin's  banquet,  164;  estate,  En- 
trance to  165;  household,  163. 
Marco  Polo,  66. 
Mariner's  Compass,  64. 
Mason,  Otis  T.,  66  n. 


Maspero,  100. 

Mayan  calendar,  86,  90. 

Mayers,  W.  F.,  45,  46,  62,  no,  127. 

Maynard,  George  C,  66  n. 

Meng  T'ien,   inventor   of   the   brush, 

5,  151. 
Mexican  calendar  wheel,  89. 
Middle  Ages,  Pseudo-sciences  of  the, 

35- 
Milfoil  plant,  35. 
Missionary  Problem,  174. 
Missions,  169. 

Mithra,  22;  slaying  the  bull,  97,  98. 
Mithraic  monument,  85. 
Moor,  Edward,  75. 
Morrison,   Rev.   R.,   138  ff. 
Mother    of    Confucius,    Cheng    Tsai, 

115,  116. 
Mothers,  The  ten,  53. 
Mystic  tablet,  48. 

Nao  the  Great,  53. 

National  Museum  at  Washington,  66. 

Net-tablet,  58  ff. 

Net-standard,  58. 

Nine,  the  number,  20  f. 

Notched  bamboo  sticks,  2. 

Notes,  Five,  15. 

Novel,    China's   national,    154  ff. 

Obedience,  Three  forms  of,  13. 
Occultism,  Chinese,  25  ff. 
Occultism,  The  truth  of,  112. 
Oceania,  i. 
Outfit  for  divipation,  35. 

Pagoda  at  Peking,  137 ;  of  palace,  140. 

Pailoo  gate,  142. 

P'an-Ku,  40  f.,  47,  48. 

Pan-shih,  58. 

Paper,  Invention  of,  4. 

Paracelsus,  64. 

Parallelism,  84. 

Pavilion  at  Peking,  139. 

Peh  Tao,  72. 

Peking  observatory,  76-82;  Pagoda 
at,  137;  Pavilion  at,  139;  Street 
scene  in,  146;  Temple  of  Confu- 
cius at,  114;  Tombs  near,  143. 

Pendants,  122,  125. 


194 


CHINESE  THOUGHT. 


Persian  reverence  of  the  elements,  45. 

Philo,  39. 

P'ing  Ti,  Emperor,  120. 

Planets,  Five,  15. 

Plunket,  E.  M.       97  n.,  98. 

Population,  poor,   165. 

Porcelain  tower  of  Nanking,  180. 

Powers,  Three,   14. 

Prehistoric   days.   The   Exchange   of 

thought  in,  2. 
Primary  forms,  The  two,  25. 
Prometheus,  41,  83. 
Pseudo-sciences  in  the  Middle  Ages, 

35. 
Pure  ones.  Three,  13. 

Quippu,  I. 

Rationalism  of  Chinese  occultism,  25. 

Recensions  of  Yih  King,  28. 

Relations,  Five  Cardinal,  15. 

Reliable,  The  Chinese  are,  175. 

Religions  of  China,  166  ff. 

Resurrection,  Scarab  symbol  of,  107. 

Roman,  calendar  stone,  91 ;  -Egyp- 
tian zodiac,  loi ;  globe  of  ecliptic, 
102. 

Sages,  The  seven,  20. 

Sagittarius,  and  Asur,  96,  97;  and 
Scorpio,  105,  106. 

Sapta  Ratna,  20. 

Saur,  Julius,  18. 

Scarab,  symbol  of  resurrection,  107. 

Scorpio  and  Sagittarius,  105,  106. 

Scorpion-man  and  scorpion,  106. 

Script,  Ancient  forms  of,  5-8;  Ele- 
ments of,  12;  Styles  of,  lo-ii. 

Seasons,  The  four,  61. 

Septuagint,  37. 

Seven,  Enumerations  of,  20. 

Sexagenary  cycle,  59,  60,  81. 

Shantung,  113. 

Shi  Huang  Ti.    See  Shih  Hwang  Ti. 

Shih   (God),  4. 

Shih  Hwang  Ti,  hater  of  literature, 
5,  150  f. 

Shintoism,   168. 

Shu   King,  46. 

Shun,   116. 


Shun  Shih,  153. 

Si  Peh,  "Chief  of  the  West,"  149. 

Six,  Enumerations  of,  20. 

South-pointing  needle,  66. 

Spinning  damself,  7. 

Spring  and  Autumn,  118. 

Sse  Ma  T'sien.     See  Ssu  Ma  Hsien. 

Ssu  Ma  Hsien,  59,  113  n.,  117. 

Ssu  Shiang,  27. 

Stalks,  35. 

Stars,   Personification  of,  66  ff. 

Steinthal,  H.,  41  n. 

Sterne,   Carus,   pseud.     See   Krause, 

Ernst. 
Street  scene  in  Peking,  146. 
String  alphabet,   i  n. 
Sui-Jen,  41. 
Sun  Chien,  159. 
Sunday,  22. 
Sung  dynasty,  154. 
Sze-Ma  Ch'ien.    See  Ssu  Ma  Hsien. 

Tablet  of  destiny,  33-34. 

Tablet,  Mystic,  48. 

Ta  Hsiao,  120. 

T'ai  chih  ("grand  limit"),  33,  36,  59. 

T'ai  Ping,  18,  171;  rebellion,  178  ff. 

T'ang  dynasty,  154. 

Taoism,  168. 

Tartar  tunic.  The,  153. 

Taurus  and  the  crab,  98. 

Temple  of  Confucius,  114;  of  Heaven, 

145- 
Ten,  canonical  books,  21 ;  stems,  The, 

52,  59. 
"Three,"    in    enumerations,    12-14; 

kingdoms.  The  Story  of  the,  154  ff. 
Throneless  king,  113^-',  120-121. 
Tiamat,  40,  83. 

Tiao  Ch'an,  the  slave  girl,  161-162. 
Tien  Teh,  of  the  Tai  Ping,  179. 
Tiger  Mountains,  Palace  in  the,  138. 
Ting,  Duke  of  Lu,  117. 
Tombs  near  Peking,  143. 
Transmitter,  Confucius  a,  115. 
Traveling  cart,  148. 
Travels  of  Confucius,  118. 
Treasures,  Four,  14. 
Trigrams,  Arrangements  of,  31,  32; 

Family  relations  in  the,  30,  31. 


INDEX. 


195 


Ts'ang  Hieh,  inventor  of  writing,  2. 

Ts'ao  Ts'ao,   159. 

Ts'eng,  59. 

Ts'in  dynasty,   150. 

Tsou-Yen,  45. 

Tsung  Ching,  the  last  Ming,  153. 

Twenty-eight  constellations,  62. 

Two-faced  centaur  on  kudurru,  104. 

Two  primary  forms,  12. 

Twelve  animals,  22,  49,  50,  51,  no; 
branches,  50,  51,  59,  no;  hours, 
Table  of,  in;  mansions,  in  Chi- 
nese characters,  no;  The  number, 
22. 

Tze  Kung,  most  devoted  admirer  of 
Confucius,  119. 

Urim  and  Thummim,  25,  36  ff.,  83. 
Ursa  Major,  20,  60,  70  ff. 

Vega,  The  star,  'j'j. 

Waddell,  480. 
Wallenstein's  horoscope,  88. 


Wan,  King,  116.   See  also  Wu  Wang. 
Wen  Ch'ang,  16  n. 
Wen  Wang,  32,  48,  50,  149. 
Williams,    S.    Wells,    153  n. 
Writing,   Ancient   forms  of  Chinese, 

5-8;   Invention  of,  2;   of  Loh,  49; 

Six  forms  of,  20. 
Wu  Wang,  149. 

Yahveh,  38. 

Yang  and  Yin,  12,  26  ff.,  34,  37,  40. 

Yangtze  River,  Island  in  the,  136. 

Yao,  Emperor,  116,  127,  130. 

Yellow  peril,  181  ff. 

Yih,  The,  25  ff.,  34,  48. 

Yih  King,  Book  of  Changes,  26,  31, 
32,  36,  37,  55»  116,  117-  149;  Recen- 
sions of,  28. 

Yin.    See  Yang. 

Ymir,  40. 

Zimmern,  S3  ^' 

Zodiac,  50;  Names  of  the,  95. 

Zodiacs  of  different  Nations,  84  ff. 


Plant  Breeding 


Comments   on   the    experiments    of 
BURBANK  &  NILSSON.     By 

Hugo  DeVries,  Professor  of  Botany  in  the  University  of  Amsterdam. 

Pages,  XIII  +  351.  114  Illustrations.  Printed  on  fine  enamel  paper.  Cloth, 

gilt  top,  $1.50  net;  $1.70  postpaid.     (7s.  6d.  net.) 


Under  the  influence  of  the  work  of  Nilsson,  Burbank,  and  others,  the  principle  of 
selection  has,  of  late,  changed  its  meaning  in  practice  in  the  same  sense  in  which  it  is 
changing  its  significance  in  science  by  the  adoption  of  the  theory  of  an  origin  of  species 
by  means  of  sudden  mutations.  The  method  of  slow  improvement  of  agricultural  varie- 
ties by  repeated  selection  is  losing  its  reliability  and  is  being  supplanted  by  the  discovery 
of  the  high  practical  value  of  the  elementary  species,  which  may  be  isolated  by  a  single 
choice.  The  appreciation  of  this  principle  will,  no  doubt,  soon  change  the  whole  aspect 
of  agricultural  plant  breeding. 

Hybridization  is  the  scientific  and  arbitrary  combination  of  definite  characters.  It 
does  not  produce  new  unit-characters;  it  is  only  the  combination  of  such  that  are  new. 
From  this  point  of  view  the  results  of  Burbank  and  others  wholly  agree  with  the  theory 
of  mutation,  which  is  founded  on  the  principle  of  the  unit-characters. 

This  far-reaching  agreement  between  science  and  practice  is  to  become  a  basis  for 
the  further  development  of  practical  breeding  as  well  as  of  the  doctrine  of  evolution. 
To  give  proof  of  this  assertion  is  the  main  aim  of  these  Essays. 

The  results  of  Nilsson  have  been  published  only  in  the  Swedish  language;  those  of 
Burbank  have  not  been  described  by  himself.  Prof.  DeVries's  arguments  for  the  theory 
of  mutation  have  been  embodied  in  a  German  book,  "Die  Mutationstheorie"  (2  vols. 
Leipsic,  Vat  &  Co.),  and  in  lectures  given  at  the  University  of  California  in  the  summer 
of  1904,  published  under  the  title  of  "Species  and  Varieties;  their  Origin  by  Mutation." 
A  short  review  of  them  will  be  found  in  the  first  chapter  of  these  Essays. 

Some  of  them  have  been  made  use  of  in  the  delivering  of  lectures  at  the  Universities 
of  California  and  of  Chicago  during  the  summer  of  1906  and  of  addresses  before  various 
audiences  during  my  visit  to  the  United  States  on  that  occasion.  In  one  of  them (II.  D.), 
the  main  contents  have  been  incorporated  of  a  paper  read  before  the  American  Philo- 
sophical Society  at  their  meeting  in  honor  of  the  bicentennary  of  the  birth  of  their 
founder,  Benjamin  Franklin,  April,  1906. 

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Space  and  Geometry  in 
the  Liglit  of  Pliysiolog- 
Ical,  Psy etiological  and 
Ptiysical  Inquiry.    By 

Dr.  Ernst  Mach,  Emeritus  Pro- 
fessor in  the  University  of  Vienna. 
From  the  German  by  Thomas  J. 
McCormack,  Principal  of  the 
LaSalle-Peru  Township  High 
School.  1906.  Cloth,  gilt  top. 
Pp.143.     $1.00  net.      (5s.net.) 

In  these  essays  Professor  Mach  dis- 
cusses the  questions  of  the  nature,origin,and 
development  of  our  concepts  of  space  from 
the  three  points  of  view  of  the  physiology 
and  psychology  of  the  senses,  history,  and 
physics,  in  all  which  departments  his  pro- 
found researches  have  gained  for  him  an 
authoritative  and  commanding  position. 
"While  in  most  works  on  the  foundations  of 
geometry  one  point  of  view  only  is  empha- 
sized— be  it  that  of  logic,  epistemology,  psy- 
chology, history,  or  the  formal  technology 
of  the  science — here  light  is  shed  upon  the  subject  from  all  points  of  view  combined, 
and  the  different  sources  from  which  the  many  divergent  forms  that  the  science  of 
space  has  historically  assumed,  are  thus  shown  forth  with  a  distinctness  and  precision 
that  in  suggestiveness  at  least  leave  little  to  be  desired. 

Any  reader  who  possesses  a  slight  knowledge  of  mathematics  may  derive  from 
these  essays  a  very  adequate  idea  of  the  abstruse  yet  important  researches  of  meta- 
geometry. 


The  Vocation  Ol  Man.  By  Johann  Gottlieb  Fichte.  Translated 
by  William  Smith,  LL.  D.  Reprint  Edition.  With  biographical  intro- 
duction by  E.  Ritchie,  Ph.  D.  1906.  Pp.  185.  Cloth,  75c  net.  Paper,  25c; 
mailed,  31c.     (Is.  6d.) 

Everyone  familiar  with  the  history  of  German  Philosophy  recognizes  the  im- 
portance of  Fichte's  position  in  its  development.  His  idealism  was  the  best  exposition 
of  the  logical  outcome  of  Kant's  system  in  one  of  its  principal  aspects,  while  it  was 
also  the  natural  precurs  r  of  Hegel's  philosophy.  But  the  intrinsic  value  of  Fichte's 
writings  have  too  often  been  overlooked.  His  lofty  ethical  tone,  the  keenness  of  his  men- 
tal vision  and  the  purity  of  his  style  render  his  works  a  stimulus  and  a  source  of  satisfac- 
tion to  every  intelligent  reader.  Of  all  his  many  books,  that  best  adapted  to  excite  an 
interest  in  his  philosophic  thought  is  the  Vocation  of  Man,  which  contains  many  of  his 
most  fruitful  ideas  and  is  an  excellent  example  of  the  spirit  and  method  of  his  teaching. 

Tlie  Rise  of   Man*     a  sketch  of  the  Origin  of  the  Human  Race. 
By  Paul  Cams.    Illustrated.  1906.   Pp.100.  Boards,  cloth  back,  75c  net. 
(3s.6d.net.) 

Paul  Carus,  the  author  of  The  Rise  of  Man,  a  new  book  along  anthropological 
lines,  upholds  the  divinity  of  man  from  the  standpoint  of  evolution.  He  discusses  the 
anthropoid  apes,  the  relics  of  primitive  man,  especially  the  Neanderthal  man  and  the 
ape-man  of  DuBois,  and  concludes  with  a  protest  against  Huxley,  claiming  that  man  has 
risen  to  a  higher  level  not  by  cunning  and  ferocity,  but  on  the  contrary  by  virtue  of  his 
nobler  qualities. 


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The  Sermons  of  a  Buddhist  Abbot,    some  Addresses  on 

Religious  Subjects  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  Soyen  Shaku,  Abbot  of  Engakuji  and 
Kenchoji,  Kamakura,  Japan.  Translated  by  Daisetz  Teitaro  Suzuki. 
Pp.218.     Cloth.     $1.00  net.      (4s.6d.net.) 

The  Sermons  of  a  Buddhist  Abbot,  which  were  delivered  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  Soyen 
Shaku,  during  the  author's  visit  to  this  country  in  1905-1906,  and  have  been  collected 
and  translated  and  edited  by  his  interpreter  and  friend,  Mr.  Daisetz  Teitaro  Suzuki, 


will  prove  fascinating  to  those  who  are  interested  in  the  comparative  study  of  religion 
as  well  as  in  the  development  of  Eastern  Asia.  Here  we  have  a  Buddhist  Abbot  holding 
a  high  position  in  one  of  the  most  orthodox  sects  of  Japan,  discoursing  on  problems  of 
ethics  and  philosophy  with  an  intelligence  and  grasp  of  the  subject  which  would  be 
rare  even  in  a  Christian  prelate. 

The   Praise  Ol   Hypocrisy.     An  Essay  in  Casuistry.     By  G.  T. 
Knight,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Christian  Theology  in  Tufts  College  Divinity 
School.     1906.     Pp.  86.     50c  net. 

"The  Praise  of  Hypocrisy"  is  an  essay  based  on  the  public  confessions  of  hypocrisy 
that  many  champions  of  religion  have  made  in  these  days,  and  on  the  defenses  they  have 
put  forth  in  support  of  the  practice  of  deceit.  Not  that  the  sects  now  accuse  each  other 
of  insincerity,  nor  that  the  scoffer  vents  his  disgust  for  all  religion,  but  that  good  men 
(as  all  must  regard  them)  in  high  standing  as  church  members  have  accused  them- 
selves. 

By  exhibiting  the  implications  and  tendencies  of  the  ethics  thus  professed  and 
defended,  and  by  sharp  comment  on  the  same,  the  author  of  this  essay  designs  to 
arouse  the  conscience  of  the  church,  to  sting  it  into  activity  in  a  region  of  life  where  its 
proper  functions  have  ceased. 

This  is  not  an  attack  on  the  church,  nor  even  a  mere  criticism;  it  is  the  language 
of  righteous  indignation  hopefully  summoning  the  church  to  be  honest  with  itself,  to  be 
loyal  and  faithful  to  its  master. 

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Essay  on  the  Creattve 
Imagination.  By  Prof.  Th. 

Ribot.  Translated  from  the 
French  by  A.  H.N.  Baron,  Fel- 
low in  Clark  University.  1906. 
Cloth,  gilt  top.  Pp.  357.  $1.75 
net.      (7s.  6d.  net.) 

Imagination  is  not  the  possession 
only  of  the  inspired  few,  but  is  a  func- 
tion of  the  mind  common  to  all  men  in 
some  degree ;  and  mankind  has  displayed 
as  much  imagination  in  practical  life  as 
in  its  more  emotional  phases — in  mech- 
anical, military,  industrial,  and  commer- 
cialmventions,  in  religious,  and  political 
institutions  as  well  as  in  the  sculpture, 
painting,  poetry  and  song.  This  is 
the  central  thought  in  the  new  book  of 
Th.  Ribot,  the  well-known  psychologist, 
modestly  entitled  An  Essay  on  the 
Creative  Imagination. 

It  is  a  classical  exposition  of  a  branch 
of  psychology  which  has  often  been  dis- 
cussed, but  perhaps  never  before  in  a 
thoroughly  scientific  manner.  Although 
the  purely  reproductive  imagination  has  been 
time  to  time,  the  creative  or  constructive  va 
popularly  supposed  to  be  confined  within  the 


studied  with  considerable  enthusiasm  from 
riety  has  been  generally  neglected  and  is 
limits  of  esthetic  creation. 


Our  Children.  Hints  from  Practical  Experience  for  Parents  and 
Teachers.     By  Paul  Carus.     Pp.  207.     ^1.00  net.      (4s.  6d.  net.) 

In  the  little  book  Our  Children,  Paul  Carus  offers  a  unique  contribution  to  peda- 
gogical literature.  Without  any  theoretical  pretensions  it  is  a  strong  defense  for  the 
rights  of  the.  child,  dealing  with  the  responsibilities  of  parenthood,  and  with  the  first 
inculcation  of  fundamental  ethics  in  the  child  mind  and  the  true  principles  of  correc- 
tion and  guidance.  Each  detail  is  forcefully  illustrated  by  informal  incidents  from  the 
author's  experience  with  his  own  children,  and  his  suggestions  will  prove  of  the  greatest 
possible  value  to  young  mothers  and  kindergartners.  Hints  as  to  the  first  acquaintance 
with  all  branches  of  knowledge  are  touched  upon — mathematics,  natural  sciences,  for- 
eign languages,  etc. — and  practical  wisdom  in  regard  to  the  treatment  of  money, 
hygiene,  and  similar  problems. 

Yin  Chih  Wen,  The  Tract  of  the  Quiet  Way.  With  Extracts  from 
the  Chinese  commentary.  Translated  by  Teitaro  Suzuki  and  Dr.  Paul 
Carus.     1906.     Pp.  48.     25c  net. 

This  is  a  collection  of  moral  injunctions  which,  among  the  Chinese  is  second 
perhaps  only  to  the  Kan-Ying  P'ien  in  popularity,  and  yet  so  far  as  is  known  to  the 
publishers  this  is  the  first  translation  that  has  been  made  into  any  Occidental  language. 
It  is  now  issued  as  a  companion  to  the  T'ai-Shang  Kan-Ying  P'ien,  although  it  does 
not  contain  either  a  facsimile  of  the  text  or  its  verbatim  translation.  The  original 
consists  of  the  short  tract  itself  which  is  here  presented,  of  glosses  added  by  cornmen- 
tators,  which  form  a  larger  part  of  the  book,  and  finally  a  number  of  stories  similar 
to  those  appended  to  the  Kan-Ying  P'ien,  which  last,  however,  it  has  not  seemed  worth 
while  to  include  in  this  version.  The  translator's  notes  are  of  value  in  justifymg  cer- 
tain readings  and  explaining  allusions,  and  the  book  is  provided  with  an  index^  The 
frontispiece,  an  artistic  outline  drawing  by  Shen  Chin-Ching,  represents  Wen  Ch  ang, 
one  of  the  highest  divinities  of  China,  revealing  himself  to  the  author  of  the  tract.    ^ 

The  motive  of  the  tract  is  that  of  practical  morality.  The  maxims  give  definite 
instructions  in  regard  to  details  of  man's  relation  to  society,  besides  more  general  pom- 
mands  of  universal  ethical  significance,  such  as  "Live  in  concord,"  "Forgive  malice,  and 
"Do  not  assert  with  your  mouth  what  your  heart  denies." 


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T*ai-Shang  Kan-Ylng  P'icn,  Treatise  of  the  Exalted  One  on  Re- 
sponse and  Retribution.  Translated  from  the  Chinese  by  Teitaro  Suzuki 
and  Dr.  Paul  Carus.  Containing  Chinese  Text,  Verbatim  Translation, 
Explanatory  Notes  and  Moral  Tales.  Edited  by  Dr.  Paul  Carus.  16 
plates.     Pp.  135.     1906.     Boards,  75c  net. 

The  book  contains  a  critical  and  descriptive  introduction,  and  the  entire  Chinese 
text  in  large  and  distinct  characters  with  the  verbatim  translation  of  each  page  ar- 
ranged on  the  opposite  page  in  corresponding  vertical  columns.  This  feature  makes  the 
book  a  valuable  addition  to  the  number  of  Chinese-EngHsh  text-books  already  avail- 
able. The  text  is  a  facsimile  reproduction  from  a  collection  of  Chinese  texts  made  in 
Japan  by  Chinese  scribes. 

After  the  Chinese  text  follows  the  English  translation  giving  references  to  the 
corresponding  characters  in  the  Chinese  original,  as  well  as  to  the  explanatory  notes 
immediately  following  the  English  version.  These  are  very  full  and  explain  the  sig- 
nificance of  allusions  in  the  Treatise  and  compare  different  translations  of  disputed 
passages.  This  is  the  first  translation  into  English  directly  from  the  Chinese  original, 
though  it  was  rendered  into  French  by  Stanislas  Julien,  and  from  his  French  edition 
into  English  by  Douglas. 

A  number  of  illustrative  stories  are  appended  in  all  the  editions  of  the  original, 
but  the  selection  of  these  stories  seems  to  vary  in  the  different  editions.  They  are  very 
inferior  in  intrinsic  value  to  the  Treatise  itself,  and  so  are  represented  here  only  by 
extracts  translated  in  part  directly  from  the  Chinese  edition  and  in  part  through  the 
French  of  Julien,  but  many  are  illustrated  by  reproductions  of  the  Chinese  pictures 
from  the  original  edition.  The  frontispiece  is  a  modern  interpretation  by  Keichyu 
Yamada  of  Lao  Tze,  the  great  Oriental  philosopher,  "The  Exalted  One"  to  whom  the 
authorship  of  this  Treatise  is  ascribed. 


Spinoza  and  Religion,     a  study  of  Spinoza's  Metaphysics  and  of 

his  particular  utterances  in  regard     to  religion,  with  a  view  to  determining 

the  significance  of  his  thought  for  religion  and  incidentally  his  personal 

attitude  toward  it.  By  Elmer  Ellsworth 
Powell,  A,  M.,  Ph.  P.,  Professor  of 
Philosophy  in  Miami  University.  1906. 
Pp.  xi,  344.     $1.50   net.      (7s.  6d.) 

Spinoza  has  been  regarded  for  centuries 
as  the  most  radical  philosopher,  yet  he  had  a 
reverential  attitude  toward  religion  and  prom- 
inent thinkers  such  as  Goethe  looked  up  to  him 
as  their  teacher  in  both  metaphysics  and  religion. 
Professor  E.  E.  Powell,  of  Miami  University, 
feels  that  there  has  been  great  need  to  have 
Spinoza's  philosophy  and  attitude  toward  re- 
ligion set  forth  by  a  competent  hand,  and,  ac- 
cordingly, he  has  undertaken  the  task  with  a 
real  love  of  his  subject,  and  has  indeed  ac- 
complished it  with  success. 


THE  OPEN  COURT  PUBLISHING   CO.,   1522  Wabash  Ave..  Chicago 


Aristotle  on  His  Prede- 
cessors* Being  the  first  book 
of  his  metaph5^sics.  Translated 
from  the  text  of  Christ,  with  intro- 
duction and  notes.  By  A.  E. 
Taylor,  M.  A.,  Fellow  of  Merton 
College,  Oxford;  Frothingham 
Professor  of  Philosophy  in  Mc- 
Gill  University,  Montreal.  Pp. 
160.  Cloth,  75c  net.  Paper,  35c 
postpaid. 

This  book  will  be  welcome  to  all 
teachers  of  philosophy,  for  it  is  a  transla- 
tion made  by  a  competent  hand  of  the 
most  important  essay  on  the  history  of 
Greek  thought  down  to  Aristotle,  written 
by  Aristotle  himself.  The  original  served 
this  great  master  with  his  unprecedented 
encyclopedic  knowledge  as  an  introduc- 
tion to  his  Metaphysics;  but  it  is  quite 
apart  from  the  rest  of  that  work,  forming 
an  independent  essay  in  itself,  and  will  re- 
main forever  the  main  source  ofourinfor- 
.  .  mation  on  the  predecessors  of  Aristotle. 

Considering  the  importance  of  the  book,  it  is  strange  that  no  translation  of  it  appears 
to  have  been  made  since  the    publication  of  that  by  Bekker  in  1831. 

The  present  translation  has  been  made  from  the  latest  and  most  critical  Greek  text 
available,  the  second  edition  of  W.  Christ,  and  pains  have  been  taken  not  only  to  repro- 
duce it  in  readable  English,  but  also  to  indicate  the  exact  way  in  which  the  translator 
understands  every  word  and  clause  of  the  Greek.  He  has  further  noted  all  the  im- 
portant divergencies  between  the  readings  of  Christ's  text  and  the  editions  of  Zellar 
and  Bonitz,  the  two  chief  modern  German  exponents  of  Aristotelianism. 

Not  the  least  advantage  of  the  present  translation  is  the  incorporation  of  the  trans- 
lator's own  work  and  thought.  He  has  done  his  best,  within  the  limited  space  he  has 
allowed  himself  for  explanations,  to  provide  the  student  with  ample  means  of  judging 
for  himself  in  the  light  of  the  most  recent  researches  in  Greek  philosophical  literature, 
the  value  of  Aristotle's  account  of  previous  thought  as  a  piece  of  historical  criticism. 

Zarathushtra,  Phllo,  the  Achaemeiilds  and  Israel. 

A  Treatise  Upon  the  Antiquity  and  Influence  of  the  Avesta.  By  Dr. 
Lawrence  H.  Mills,  Professor  of  Zend  Philology  in  the  University  of 
Oxford.     1906.     Pp.  460.     Cloth,  gilt  top.     $4.00  net. 

Professor  Lawrence  H.  Mills,  the  great  Zendavesta  scholar  of  Oxford,  England,  has 
devoted  his  special  attention  to  an  investigation  and  comparison  of  the  relations  that 
obtain  between  our  own  religion,  Christianity — including  its  sources  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment scriptures^and  the  Zendavesta,  offering  the  results  of  his  labors  in  a  new  book 
that  is  now  being  published  by  The  Open  Court  Publishing  Company,  under  the  title, 
"Zarathushtra,  Philo,  the  Achaemenids  and  Israel,  a  Treatise  upon  the  Antiquity  and 
Influence  of  the  Avesta."  We  need  scarcely  add  that  this  subject  is  of  vital  importance 
in  theology,  for  the  influence  of  Persia  on  Israel  and  also  on  the  foundation  of  the 
Christian  faith  has  been  paramount,  and  a  proper  knowledge  of  its  significance  is  in- 
dispensable for  a  comprehension  of  the  origin  of  our  faith. 

Babel  and  Bible*     Three  Lectures  on  the  Significance  of  Assyrio- 
logical  Research  for  Religion,  Embodying  the  most  important  Criticisms 
and  the  Author's  Replies.   By  Dr.  Friedrich  Delitzsch,  Professor  of  Assyr- 
iology  in  the  University  of  Berlin.     Translated  from  the  German.     Pro- 
fusely illustrated.     1906.     Pp.  XV,  240.     $1.00  net.        . 
A  new  edition  of  "Babel  and  Bible,"  comprising  the  first,  second  and  third  lectures 
by  Dr.  Friedrich  Delitzsch,  complete  with  discussions  and  the  author's  replies,  has  been 
published  by  The  Open  Court  Publishing  Company,  making  a  stately  volume  of  255 
paggs  ---  -' ' 

THE  OPEN  COURT  PUBLISHING  CO..  1522   Wabash  Ave..  Chicago 


The  Story  of  Samson  ^""^^'^  ^'«^« '°  "^^  ^^''^ 

•^  40US  Development  of  Mankind. 

By   Paul  Carus.       80    illustrations.      Pp.    183.     Comprehensive  index. 

Boards,  $1.00  net.     (4s.  6d.  net.) 

Dr.  Carus  contends  that  Samson's  prototype  is  to  be  found  in  those  traditions  of  all  prim- 
itive historical  peoples  which  relate  to  a  solar  deity.  He  believes  that  genuine  tradition,  no 
matter  how  mythological,  is  more  conservative  than  is  at  first  apparent.  Though  the  bibli- 
cal account  of  Samson's  deeds,  like  the  twelve  labors  of  Heracles,  is  the  echo  of  an  ancient 
solar  epic  which  glorifies  the  deeds  of  Shamash  in  his  migration  through  the  twelve  signs  of 
the  zodiac,  there  may  have  been  a  Hebrew  hero  whose  deeds  reminded  the  Israelites  of  Sha- 
mash, and  so  his  adventures  were  told  with  modifications  which  naturally  made  the  solar 
legends  cluster  about  his  personality. 

References  are  fully  given,  authorities  quoted  and  comparisons  are  carefully  drawn  be- 
tween Samson  on  the  one  hand,  and  Heracles,  Shamash,  Melkarth  and  Siegfried  on  the 
other.  The  appendix  contains  a  controversy  between  Mr.  Geo.  W.  Shaw  and  the  author  in 
which  is  discussed  at  some  length  the  relation  between  myth  and  history. 

^'kin^^^   TllOl1f¥llt  ^^  Exposition  of  the  Main  Character- 

**  istic  Features  of  the  Chinese  World- 

Conception.     By  Paul  Carus.     Being  a  continuation  of  the  author's  essay, 
Chinese  Philosophy.     Illustrated.    Index.     Pp.195.    $1.00  net.    (4s.  6d.) 

This  book  contains  much  that  is  of  very  great  interest  in  the  development  of  Chinese 
culture.  Beginning  in  the  first  chapter  with  a  study  of  the  earliest  modes  of  thought-com- 
munication among  primitive  people  of  different  parts  of  the  world,  and  tracing  the  growth  of 
the  present  system  of  Chinese  caligraphy.  In  "Chinese  Occultism"  some  interesting  Oriental 
mystical  ideas  are  explained  as  well  as  the  popular  methods  of  divination  by  means  of  tri- 
grams  and  the  geomancer's  compass.  In  a  special  chapter  the  zodiacs  of  different  nations 
are  compared  with  reference  to  the  Chinese  zodiac  and  also  to  a  possible  common  Babylon- 
ian origin.  This  chapter  contains  many  rare  and  valuable  illustrations  representing  almost 
all  known  zodiacs  from  those  of  Egypt  to  the  natives  of  the  Western  hemisphere.  The  in- 
fluence of  Confucius  is  discussed,  and  a  hurried  recapitulation  of  the  most  important  points 
in  Chinese  history  is  given  together  with  a  review  of  the  long  novel  which  stands  in  the  place 
of  a  national  epic.  Chinese  characteristics  and  social  conditions  have  their  place  in  this 
volume  as  well  as  the  part  played  in  China  by  Christian  missions,  and  the  introduction  of 
Western  commercialism.  The  author's  object  is  to  furnish  the  necessary  material  for  a  psy- 
chological appreciation  of  the  Chinese  by  sketching  the  main  characteristic  features  of  the 
ideas  which  dominate  Chinese  thought  and  inspire  Chinese  morality,  hoping  thereby  to  con- 
tribute a  little  toward  the  realization  of  peace  and  good  will  upon  earth. 

Chinese  Life  and  Customs  ^/r,tt,r- 

by  Chinese  artists.     Pp.  114.     T5c.  net.     (3s,  6d.  net.) 

This  book  is  little  more  than  a  compilation  of  Chinese  illustrations  accompanied  with  only 
as  much  text  as  will  suffice  to  explain  them,  and  what  further  material  has  been  added  is 
merely  in  the  way  of  quotations  from  Chinese  literature.  The  intention  is  to  make  the 
Chinese  people  characterize  themselves  by  word  and  picture.  Child  rhymes,  love  lyrics  and 
songs  of  revelry  are  introduced  in  translation  from  Chinese  poetry  which  is  recognized  as 
classical.  The  illustrations  which  form  the  great  body  of  the  book  are  from  the  most  authen- 
tic Chinese  source  of  information  concerning  modern  life  in  China  unaffected  by  the  aggres- 
sive Occidental  foreigners.  The  book  is  divided  into  chapters  on  "Annual  Festivals," 
"Industries  and  Foreign  Relations,  "  "Confucianism  and  Ancestor  Worship,"  "Taoism  and 
Buddhism,"  "Childhood  and  Education,"  "Betrothal  and  Marriage,"  "Social  Customs  and 
Travels,"  "Sickness  and  Death." 

THE   OPEN  COURT   PUBLISHING  CO..  1322   Wabash   Ave..  Chicago 


Our  Children 

Hints  from  Practical  Experience  for 
Parents  and  Teachers.  By  Paul  Carus 
Pp.    207,     $1,00   net.     {4s.  6d.    net) 

In  the  little  book  Our  Children,  Paul  Carus  offers  a  unique  contribution  to  peda- 
gogical literature.  Without  any  theoretical  pretensions  it  is  a  strong  defense  for 
the  rights  of  the  child,  dealing  with  the  responsibilities  of  parenthood,  and  with 
the  first  inculcation  of  fundamental  ethics  in  the  child  mind  and  the  true  prmciples 
of  correction  and  guidance.  Each  detail  is  forcefully  illustrated  by  informal 
incidents  Trom  the  author's  experience  with  his  own  children,  and  his  suggestions 
will  prove  of  the  greatest  possible  value  to  young  mothers  and  kindergartners. 
Hints  as  to  the  first  acquaintance  with  all  branches  of  knowledge  are  touched 
upon  —  mathematics,  natural  sciences,  foreign  languages,  etc. —  and  practical 
wisdom  in  regard  to  the  treatment  of  money,   hygiene  and  similar   problems. 


PRESS   NOTICES 

"Brightly  written,  broad-minded,  instructive,  this  book  deserves  serious  perusal  and  praise." 

—CHICAGO  RECORD-HERALD. 

"  'Our  Children'  has  a  value  which  it  is  difficult  to  exaggerate.  The  strong  common  sense  of 
the  book  as  a  whole  can  better  be  judged  from  an  extract  than  from  any  praise  of  it,  however 
particularized. 

"It  is  difficult  to  conceive  of  anything  coming  up  in  relation  of  parent  or  teacher  to  a  child 
which  does  not  find  discussion  or  suggestion  in  this  compact  and  helpful  little  book.  It  will  be 
an  aid  to  parents  and  teachers  everywhere— an  education  for  them  no  less  than  for  the  child." 

—THE  CHICAGO  DAILY  NEWS. 

"From  my  own  personal  point  of  view  I  can  only  welcome  this  volume  in  our  pedagogical 
literature  and  express  the  hope  that  it  may  become  a  household  book  in  the  library  of  every 
parent  and  teacher."  M.  P.  E.  GROSZMANN.  Pd.  D., 

Director  Groszmann  School  for  Nervous  Children 

"Mr.  Carus  writes  in  a  most  practical  manner  upon  his  subject,  setting  before  the  reader  the 
various  problems  common  to  all  parents  in  dealing  with  their  offspring.  This  book  is  admirable 
throughout  in  the  author's  treatment  of  his  subjects,  as  the  book  is  built  from  the  experiences 
of  parents  and  teachers  and,  therefore,  cannot  fail  to  be  practicable." 

-THE  BOSTON  HERALD. 

"For  the  training  of  children  I  know  of  no  book  in  which  there  is  so  much  value  in  a  small 
compass  as  in  this.'*  -THE  TYLER  PUBLISHING  CO. 

"Little  things  are  recommended  that  will  appeal  to  the  child's  understanding  and  add  to  his 
interest  in  his  work."  —CLEVELAND  PLAIN  DEALER. 

"Its  author  has  given  to  the  world  a  careful,  loving,  thoughtful  set  of  rules  which  may  be  used 
with  profit  in  the  bringing  up  of  the  young." 

—THE  MANTLE,  TILE  AND  GRATE  MONTHLY. 

"We  feel  certain  that  any  parent  who  thoughtfully  reads  and  studies  this  book  will  be  richly 
paid;  and  if  the  readers  be  parents  with  growing  children  they  will  keep  the  book  by  them  for 
frequent  consultation;  not  for  iron  rules  but  for  sympathetic  suggestion." 

—THE  COMMERCIAL  NEWS  (Danville,  111.) 

"At  once  the  reader  knows  that  he  is  in  touch  with  a  mind  that  is  accustomed  to  sincere  and 
deep  thinking.  The  whole  book  is  a  plea  for  a  serious  notion  of  parenthood.  The  author  touches 
one  topic  after  another  with  a  fine  sense  of  feeling  for  the  'warm  spot'  in  it. 

"The  use  of  money,  square  dealing,  worldly  prudence,  sympathy  with  animals,  treatment  of  a 
naughty  child,  self  criticism,  and  punishment,  are  some  of  the  more  important  themes  of  the 
book."  -TilE  SUBURBAN. 

The  Open  Court  Publishing  Co. ,  1322  Wabash  Ave. ,  Chicago 


-^ 


1 4  DAY  USE 
14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  ' 

or  on  the  date  to  which  renewed.  Renewals  only: 

Tel.  No.  642-3405 
Renewals  may  be  made  4  days  ^rior  to  date  due. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 

Due  end  of  WINTER  Quarter   ^^^^  ^  ^  72<3S%>.     ' 
subject  to  recall  attar  —  ^  ^"^t     | 


RECPLP  MAR2  072-1ZANI8T 


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DEC  29  1979 


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GENERAL  UBRM^UC- «"'''''' 

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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


